Performance Skills Workshop

The Newport Fiddle and Folk Club runs workshops every year as part of the build up to the Folk Festival July 2-4. Workshops in yodelling, ukulele, mandolin have all been on offer. (I'm still hoping we'll have spoon playing and tap dancing one day. I'm up for the challenge!) The stagecraft workshop will be relaxed and fun and participants will take away some new ideas on how to prepare for performance and engage their audience.

The weather has turned cold and wet. The Scout Hall has a log fire - it's workshop time of year!

click to enlarge poster

Malcolm McKinnon: Film maker.

Serious work has begun! This is the first time I have been involved in collaboration of this type. Film maker and artist Malcolm McKinnon is taking my version of the story of Edith's Lyrebird and transforming it into a digital story for Lilydale Musem. Today began in the State Library of Victoria in the Heritage Reading Room photographing a copy of The Age newspaper, February 13th 1932. We were particularly interested in the article 'The Miracle of the Dandenongs' by Ambrose Pratt. It was in this article that Mr Pratt first described the relationship between Mrs Edith Wilkinson and a remarkable Lyrebird. Mission accomplished - we then headed down to ACMI (Australian Centre for the Moving Image) and viewed some footage from 1934 of a male Lyrebird in display. Well!!! ..... you could have knocked me over with a feather!! It was our man! Edith's Lyrebird.

The joy of this kind of research is indescribable. Tracking down a story to its roots, touching and seeing the very beginning of a tale from the past and pulling into the present.

Brimbank Family Day Care Conference

Childcare workers were treated to a full and exhausting day of workshops. Organised by the Brimbank City Council, Early Childhood Services and held in the the fantastic Convention Centre at Vic Uni in Sunshine. My task was to facilitate a 90 min intensive practical session on the Art of Storytelling to pre schoolers. The participants came from a range of linguistic and cultural backgrounds and the children they care for add to the richness of the mix. These women, as well as raising their own families, care for children from backgrounds as diverse as Sri Lankan, Vietnamese, Maori, Samoan and more besides! Some of the children they care for are as young as two months old. Despite the w/shop taking place at the end of a long day, I was overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of these women. They are professional, dedicated and passionate about their work. An inspiration.

Emerging Writers Festival 21 - 30 May 2010

pic: Jenna, Lachlan and Bernard

PIGEONS AT THE FESTIVAL. The Melbourne Town Hall opened its doors to storymakers of all kinds imaginable for the Emerging Writers Festival 2010. The Emerging Writers’ Festival (EWF) exists to promote the interests of emerging writers – to improve their opportunities for professional development and their engagement with the broader public.Events included topics like The Pitch, Two Sides of the Coin, Style Vs Substance and Mining the Personal. I was drawn to rising early on Saturday morning and training in to hear Jenna Williams and Lachlan Carter in conversation with Bernard Caleo. The topic was The Pigeons Project. Jenna and Lachlan founded Pigeons in 2009 - a community group dedicated to assisting children in improving their literacy skills and developing a passion for reading and writing. By offering project-based learning activities in line with teacher needs and curriculum objectives, Pigeons aims to cultivate creative partnerships between local public schools, authors and artists. Last year I was involved with the inaugural project at North Melbourne Primary School along with twelve other authors. The coup has now grown to twenty and we will be working this year with a class at Footscray City PS. Please visit the Pigeons website and learn how you can become involved with a remarkable team of creatives. http://pigeonsprojects.org/

Pic: Bernard Caleo and Jen Breach. Bernard makes comics ie. he writes draws, collaborates, edits and publishes comics. He teaches, preaches and takes comic classes. http://cardigancomics.com/

Here is Bernard at the EWF with Jen Breach also a comic maker http://sawbonesonline.com/

Bernard and Jen are also supporters of Pigeons.

Koorie Night Market comes to Newport 29 May

This is going to be a great night. Hope to see you there! Click on the poster to enlarge and read the details.

JK

TELL ME A STORY: Williamstown Literary Festival 2010

Greg O'Leary and I packed out our little marquee at the Lit Fest. It was the perfect venue for storytelling and acoustic music. The festival had a theme 'West of the Yarra' so we began in the 1880s with the soundscapes and stories of the gold rush. From there we jumped river to the foothills of the Dandenongs and I told the story of the first lyrebird to be recorded and broadcast on the wireless - this took us up to the 1930's. Greg followed this up with my current favourite song - the Connemara piper - a man who when he piped made fat people thiner and thin people fatter. Then it was back to the 1800s with a change of plans. We discovered a young fellow in the audience who was keen on fiddle playing - so Greg played the tunes that were played in the Glenrowan Pub the night before the siege and the capture of Ned Kelly. Of course they were actually played on a concertina - but you all knew that! We were excited to have Tito in the audience from Radio Australia. Tito is making a program on storytelling traditions in Australia and Indonesia. Greg and I are honoured to be part of the documentary.

Thank you to the Williamstown Literary for a wonderful weekend of stories, talks, workshops and games.

Glenn Shea at the Williamstown Literary Festival

For the Williamstown Festival 2010 - GetUp OutWest arranged for Glenn Shea to run a session featuring a board game he developed as part of his work in youth justice.

The Storyteller is an educational tool. It provides knowledge and understanding of Aboriginal people, society and cultural in a fresh,fun and stimulating way. It encourages student inquiry whilst engaging students in literacy and numeracy skills. The educational resource is also generic and

non-political.

Glen, a Wathaurong/Ngarrindjeri man, is a graduate of NIDA and a familiar face on several well-known television dramas. Recently he was involved in the dramatised documentary about William Buckley - working with local Wathaurong actors and actors brought down to Victoria from the Top End.

The Storyteller attracted a good number of keen players at the festival. If you're interested in The Storyteller, Glenn Shea's contact details are on the website www.indigenousstoryteller.com/