Storytelling with Mara Menzies
Storytelling is often identified with a nostalgic reference to Grandmothers’ stories. Well, for a certain generation at least. Many children of this generation, have not had the experience of sitting and listening to someone tell you a story, that is not out of a book per se. As the beauty and the sentimentality of Oral Traditions such as Storytelling faded, Mara Menzies, brings them to life again.
We, at ARIS, are very lucky and excited (understatement of the year, judging by students’ reactions) to have Mara with us, to revive the beauty of simple Storytelling. In one amazing hour, she is able to transport students to another world unbeknownst to them through the telling of Scottish and Kenyan folklore. Through her experience in telling stories across the world, she says that every place and every person and every little thing has a story. Thus, solving the greatest phenomenon in the world – Boredom! She even told our ARIS pupils the secret to never being bored by telling them to look at the simplest of things that surround them and make up possibilities by tapping into the most creative part of their minds. For example, looking at a shoe and conjuring up the possibilities of being able to travel the world in a snap, time travel, look different and so on, once they put on a shoe.
In her two days of being with us at Secondary and Primary School, she has had Storytelling sessions with Year 7, 8, 6, 5, 4 and 3 (Chronologically). To our surprise, each time, she told a completely different story. When asked about how she does so, not only did she say, what we had already guessed, that she had a large repertoire of stories to tell, but she also examines the audience before telling a specific story to them. More importantly, she values the fluidity and spontaneity of Storytelling as an art form, stating, that it is parallel to literature and theatre.
All of them might seem simple tales, but they all have hidden inspirational messages that moved the children and got them excited! Some of the stories she told were Tamlin’s Fairytale, a Story of a time when Kikuyu women (of Kenya) were not allowed to eat meat, Death and the Nut, The story of Oshosi (Orisha of the Hunt and Justice), the Story of Fire and the Story of the Sun and the Moon always chasing one another. You name it, she will have a story!
Her actions and impersonations, and how she got the students to be involved in her stories as characters, audience, props, and storytellers themselves is a talent in itself. Moreover, she also gave some of the older students the exercise of standing in a group of 6 and telling a ‘Continuation’ story, where one person would start off the story, and each student, once their turn came, would continue the story. It’s truly amazing to peak into the minds of these pupils when given the opportunity to delve into their creative pools. The possibilities of stories to tell are endless and the magical thing is that each of these stories was intrinsically unique. If the students were to be in a different order, the story would completely change!
Stay tuned for the story of our littlest ones at ARIS and seeing how they transport themselves to a different world with Mara.