Once upon a time, before there were IPods or cell phones, people told stories. There were stories of mighty heroes and fair ladies, of brave girls in red cloaks and shiver-inducing ghosts, all told by the light of a flickering fire as the stars moved overhead.
Now, of course, we've got arc lights and Xboxes, personal DVD players and instant messaging. With all the connections being made, there's hardly time to cook dinner for your family, even less to conjure up a tale replete with clever rabbits or exotic princesses.
But here's a strange and wondrous thing. Stories, and the art of telling them, are making something of a comeback. You don't even need the light of a flickering fire to hear a well-told tale; storytelling events are happening all around the Washington area. With a little practice, you even can tell a good one yourself, and you may well find yourself connecting — with your children, your spouse, even yourself.
"People are beginning to recognize that storytelling has a wide range of uses, from the workplace to peace work," says Noa Baum, a professional storyteller. "That's one of the things that storytelling does — it teaches us how to be human."
One thing is sure. Storytelling isn't only for the preschool set, although there's nothing wrong with seeing a 3-year-old sitting quietly enraptured by one of Ms. Baum's stories of lions and rabbits or girls and moon men. In a world of pre-made toys and scripted play, it's kind of nice to see a child — or anyone — filling in the spaces on his own.
"Imagination is the key," Ms. Baum says. "You have to understand that storytelling in its traditional sense is not about words. It's about the images you make in your mind."
In a way, a good story can be the ultimate mind game — for the teller and the listener.
"It really helps you to think outside the box," says Louise Capon, a Bethesda mom who has been telling stories to her own children for years.
For Mrs. Capon, who home-schooled her three boys, ages ranging from 7 to 20, storytelling was hardly something out of the ordinary. Her father told bedtime stories, some so vivid that her mother had to ask him to tone them down. Today, Mrs. Capon uses storytelling to calm down, fire up and incorporate the important moral lessons of the day.
"When my two older boys were younger, they used to fight," she says. "So I would tell a story at the end of the day where the characters had very similar problems and always resolved things a little bit better than they had. Sometimes, they even tried what I had suggested, and they never caught on."
Watch an audience listening to a seasoned storyteller, and you'll soon realize that no two persons are seeing exactly the same thing.
"Stories are made of images and imagination," says Jon Spelman, a Silver Spring-based professional storyteller. "You tell a story to 500 people, and there are 500 parallel stories all happening at the same time."
Storytelling festivals around the county feature local and nationally known storytellers telling a variety of stories in a variety of settings.
Probably the best known is the National Storytelling Festival, which takes place every October in Jonesborough, Tenn. Jonesborough is also home to the International Storytelling Center, with exhibits devoted to storytelling and storytellers.
If you can't get to Jonesborough, you always can listen to a story at the Library of Congress' American Folklife Center. Founded in 1928 to collect American folk songs, the archive quickly began collecting stories as well. A few years ago, the library acquired the International Storytelling Archive from Jonesborough. Today, any member of the public older than high school age can go to the library to hear a tale, so long as he or she fills out a readers' card beforehand. It's a great way to listen to how storytelling has changed through the years.
"Personal narrative is a lot more common now," notes folklife specialist Todd Harvey. "Before, there were more traditional stories."
What makes a good storyteller? The ingredients are fairly simple: a comfortable seat, a sense of character and a smattering of humor. Some people are natural-born storytellers, like Mrs. Capon, able to get at the arc of a story as easily as breathing.
"You want to think about what you want to achieve," she says. "Do you want to give them the creeps or fall into a magical sense of mystery? What color do you want to paint your picture? And of course, you'll need to have a clear beginning, middle and end."
For those who need a little help in capturing and delivering that well-told tale, professional storytellers such as Ms. Baum and Mr. Spelman frequently offer workshops or courses on storytelling. Mrs. Capon recommends memorizing poems or retelling stories from books.
"Other people's stories are wonderful," she says. "There are always ways to make them your own."
If you are able to grasp the essentials, most storytellers say, you're more than ready to give it a try.
"Children don't want as much as we think they do," Ms. Baum says. "Actually, they want less, just that intimate human contact that a story provides. There isn't a bigger gift you can give to your child than telling stories. They may not remember the plot, but they'll always remember that you told them."
Among the more popular public occasions for storytelling in the Washington area are events where storytellers come together to listen to one another's tales.
Voices in the Glen, an offshoot of the Washington Area Storytellers, got its start more than 20 years ago and for years held storytelling events at Glen Echo. These days, it holds monthly story swaps at various venues across the area. Participants usually bring a covered dish — and a story or two.
"We try to get around the group," says Margaret Chatham, one of the group's founding members. "Anyone who comes can tell a story."
Just don't expect to hear the same old tales. There's always someone willing to try a new spin on an old story. Even literary works can get the storytelling treatment.
"We want to bring the story out of the book and off the page until it becomes a living, breathing thing," Ms. Chatham says.
Recently, the story swap was held at the home of Eve Burton, a children's librarian and seasoned storyteller. Ms. Burton hosts a monthly storytelling circle at the Twinbrook Library in Montgomery County. A home-schooler herself, Ms. Burton was looking for a place for her children to get together with others and share stories. The result was the Twinbrook Tellers, which meets the first Thursday of the month and includes youngsters ages 5 to 14. Younger children are welcome, older siblings often stop by, and parents frequently stick around.
Practice makes perfect for storytellers, no matter what your age. Professional storytellers frequently record themselves, the better to tighten the tale the next time. Moms and dads, though, can judge their success by the reactions of their young audience.
Children aren't the only ones who like to tell stories, however. Adults and their older siblings do, too, which explains the growing popularity of Speakeasy DC, an open-mike storytelling event that is part of a growing trend of storytelling among the twentysomething set.
In the case of Speakeasy DC, there are regular participants who are well into their 80s who don't shrink at the sometimes off-color tales that can be spun at the storytelling events, usually held in venues around the 14th and U streets corridor. The emphasis here is on personal stories rather than traditional tales. The next event, slated for Nov. 13, revolves around the theme of lying and liars. (See www.washington storytellers.org for more information about events, classes and podcasts.)
Meanwhile, Ms. Baum, along with storyteller Kelly Cresap, is offering a special storytelling and personal exploration workshop on Nov. 17 as part of the Smithsonian Associates Program.
Ms. Baum also has mounted a one-woman show, "A Land Twice Promised," that uses storytelling to describe the friendship between two women, one Palestinian and one Israeli, and the obstacles they had to overcome to sustain it. The program is based on her own friendship with a Palestinian woman, but the themes — friendship, hardship and perseverance — are universal.
"After one performance, a woman stopped me and said that it was going to take her years to convince herself that she wasn't actually there," Ms. Baum says.
That, of course, is the aim of nearly all storytellers, even those who don't have the help of a flickering fire.