For my telling of the Ifugao tale, Sallak-en and the first pomelo, I used a rainmaker and a drum (bought from Sagada) to chant my way through the story. The kids clapped and joined in the rhythm. One teacher, Teacher Aisa, shook the rainmaker as we rolled along the chant! It was fun!
Towards the end of the session, I used my malong to spice up the retelling of Ang Ibong Adarna. The kids and the adults could not help but laugh and be awed. I should really be doing this more often because, I felt like walking on air. I'm still grinning from ear to ear at the memory of this afternoon's sessions.
There are so many ways to tell stories. With out a book, I felt so free to express and communicate the meaning and relevance of the story to my kids. One teacher realized how novel the style was. Yes, I told her. I'm keeping up with the oral tradition. Our folk tales are dying and we need to resuscitate them.
Well done Zarah. Storytelling is, afterall, best done without books. It's transforming for audience and teller.
ReplyDeleteDaryll Bellingham
I was really in awe and all smiles because I loved the way you delivered the stories. Very genuine. And the thing is, it's really hard to catch those short attention spans of the Prep students but you managed it. Kudos Ms. Z! :)
ReplyDeleteI hope we'll do storytelling together soon. :)
Daryll - Thanks! But book based storytelling in the Philippines is the staple. I'm exploring the oral tradition and to tell in English, my second langauge, is quite challenging.
ReplyDeleteDarrel - Yeah. I don't really know how, but yes. I did, huh!
Great! Well, I admire the precious time and effort you put into it, especially into interesting articles you share here! It was very interesting..
ReplyDelete