(Art of Storytelling Students should remember that this is an excellent opportunity to do one out-of-class telling!)

If you are a storyteller, keep an eye on the comment section of this post. You might find something good.

CLASSES — CLASSES — CLASSES

Spring 2010 Class Offerings

NEW THIS SPRING: The African Storytelling Tradition

The Storytelling Institute’s Spring offerings include six  The Art of Storytelling  classes (one ”late start” eight-week class) as well as  Multicultural Folktales, Muliticultural Folktales II, Mythology, Intercultural Perspectives, and Children’s Literature. There will also be a section of Use of Storytelling in a Variety of Settings, Use of Storytelling in Educational Settings, and Use of Storytelling in Healing Settings. As always, there wil be a Story Circle.

If you want more information on any of these classes, please do not hesitate to email the Institute at smcstorytelling@gmail.com.

  REGISTER — REGISTER — REGISTER

You can register for any of these classes by going online, by calling 602-243-7050 or by coming to SMCC at 7050 S. 24th Street (24th and Baseline) to register in-person.

When LynnAnn Wojciechowicz became Director of the SMCC Storytelling Institute at the beginning of the Fall 2002 semester, Institute founder Lorraine Calbow had already created a vibrant storytelling center. LynnAnn, who will pass the Institute reins to Liz Warren at the end of this semester, has spent the past seven years expanding the Institute activities.

LynnAnn is above all a teacher and a storyteller. She was the driving force behind expanding the Academic Certificate in Storytelling to from twenty-one to thirty hours. The first graduate of the new program, Soonyul Ahn, received her certificate in 2004. As of this May, twenty storytellers will hold the certificates.

As a teacher, LynnAnn has introduced scores of students to the wonder of storytelling. These students range from community college freshmen to returning students who have already earned advanced degrees. Many of these students are now active storytellers here in the Phoenix area and beyond.

LynnAnn’s influence as a teacher extends far beyond her own classroom. Her students include the teachers who have learned from her the joy, power, and academic skills that storytelling provides. The textbook The Oral Tradition Today: An Introduction to the Art of Storytelling by incoming Storytelling Institute Director Liz Warren includes the words: “My biggest debt of gratitude goes to LynnAnn Wojciechowicz. This book simply would not have been possible without the blessings of her time and expertise as a storyteller, teacher, and writer.”

Audiences of all ages enjoy LynnAnn’s storytelling skills. She presents concerts and workshops in elementary schools and she participates in the Institute World of Wonder, Myth Informed, and Faculty concerts, both as a teller and a MC. She also represented the Western Region as a Teller at the National Storytelling Conference in Gatlinburg TN in 2008 and was the State Liaison for National Storytelling Network. Next fall, she will receive the National Storytelling Network’s “Western Regional Award” during the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesboro TN>

Under LynnAnn’s direction, the Storytelling Institute has expanded outside of South Mountain to provide classes at the Phoenix Art Museum, at Univision, and to State Police Officers and a hybrid (computer/on-campus) class been offered to mental health professionals. Some Storytelling Institute classes are condensed into weekends, others into half-semesters.

During the past seven years, the Storytelling Institute has welcomed more than fifteen national and or international storytellers to South Mountain for concerts and workshops and these storytellers have come from places as far away as Japan, Ireland and Tonga. The Tongan, Emil Wolframm’s, visit was highlighted by his Special Projects class: “Tongan and Polynesian Myths” during the Spring of 2007.

Under LynnAnn’s direction, the Storytelling Institute has reached out to community storytellers in many ways. The Institute sponsors the Storytelling Amigos concerts and programs, a Tellebration concert and the Community Storytelling Festival with its opportunities for local tellers and students to display their abilities. In past years, the Festival has welcomed students of the Native American Flute from Casa Blanca Community School in Sacaton and youth storytellers from Tertulia Charter School.

In addition, LynnAnn and the Storytelling Institute work closely with the Mesa Storytelling Festival. She explains that this connection began when Don Doyle brought Anita Farnsworth, who had decided that Mesa needed a storytelling festival, to the Storytelling Institute and “it was agreed that the Institute should have a representative on the Mesa Storytelling Festival board.”

When invited to say comment on LynnAnn’s years as Storytelling Institute Director, local storyteller Jeanette Daane said “The first word that comes to my mind to describe LynnAnn is gracious. She is supportive as a teacher but also stimulating, scholarly, and she sets high standards. I’m grateful to have known her and to have studied with her. I wish her the very best.”

Although LynnAnn is stepping down as Storytelling Institute Director, she is not stepping away. Until the time of her planned retirement she will continue to teach classes. She will aslo be available to ensure that Liz Warren, who becomes director in her place, has the support and help she will need.

If you want to send greetings to LynnAnn, please join the discussion in the Comment Section.

Liz Warren, a fourth-generation Arizonan, is known for tales that reflect the heroic journey of life - whether they are stories of growing up in Arizona, folktales, or myths from ancient traditions. On November 2, Liz and musician John Good will present the First Branch of the Welsh Mabinogion an otherworldy romance that explores the themes of fidelity and sovereignty. Liz is a storyteller, teacher, and writer as well as one of the founders of the SMCC Storytelling Institute.  She tells a variety of stories, but finds herself returning to  tales that reflect our connections to other times - whether they are stories of growing up in Arizona, folktales, or myths from ancient traditions. Her recorded version of The Story of the Grail received a Parents’ Choice Recommended award in 2004 and a Storytelling World award in 2006. Her textbook, The Oral Tradition today, was published in 2008. The Path of Truth, her new CD of Arizona family stories will be released in 2009.

John Good, Liz’s collaborator, is a native of Wales. His musical background is classical and he is a songwriter, a poet, and a multi-instrumentalist. Of his twenty-three years in America he says: “In San Francisco it was Jazz, in L.A. New Wave and in Phoenix … it’s Celtic!” John is half of the group Oceans Apart. On his CD “The First 1500 Years of Welsh Poetry, he offers just that, Welsh poetry in Welsh and in language with comments, “to allow those unfamiliar with the Welsh language and/or Welsh poetry, both in Welsh and English, an convenient access to an often neglected, extremely rewarding, sometimes daunting, obscure and yet magical world of verse.” Oceans Apart performs at Celtic festivals throughout the west.

Four storytellers will join Loren Russell and his wife Sandy in presenting ninety minutes of telling at the Wild Horse Pass Resort on Saturday night, March 21^st. This concert will start at 5:00 pm, outside at the resort’s fire pit. It is open to the public and suitable for children and adults alike.

LynnAnn Wojciechowicz, Kelly Davis, Clem W. Condon and Harriet Cole will be telling with Loren. LynnAnn is one of the founders of and the current Director of the Storytelling Institute at South Mountain Community College. She is also the State Liaison for the National Storytelling Network. LynnAnn has been telling stories and teaching classes and workshops in storytelling for fifteen years.

 Kelly is pursuing her Academic Certificate in Storytelling at the SMCC Storytelling Institute. Her goal is to empower girls and women through storytelling. Clem, the “Lizard Creek Storyteller” is currently taking classes at SMCC’s Storytelling Institute. Harriet is a received her Academic Certificate in Storytelling from the Storytelling Institute and is currently working on her Master’s degree at Prescott College. She is usually drawn to the dark and stormy side of storytelling.

The Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort is at exit 162 on I-10 east outside Phoenix. Click here for precise directions.