Notes from the 2009 Going Deep Storytelling Retreat

Blogger Hope Baugh of Indiana, over at her Indy Theatre Blog, gives us a report from the 2009 Going Deep: The Long Traditional Storytelling Retreat. (She did the same with last year's event, as well).

Going Deep not only treads new ground in the storytelling circuit (by focusing on a niche market of epic stories, and setting up the logistics of the event accordingly, i.e., making it a retreat rather than a series of one-off evening concerts).

Hope has posted her reflections on the three stories presented during the course of the retreat:

• Liz Warren's telling of "The Story of the Grail;"
• Marilyn Omifunke Torres telling “The Paths of Osun: The West African Yoruba Epic Journey of the Goddess in Heaven and on Earth;"
• David Novak's performance of "Gilgamesh."

I especially appreciate her careful notes on the workshops that followed each performance-- they give a more rounded context to the storytelling event and allow us a glimpse into the artistic process for each performer, as well as a sense of how a retreat differs from a standard festival.

I should also point out that storyteller Priscilla Howe, one of the co-founders of the retreat, has posted her reflections of this year's event over on her blog.

And Sean Buvala of Storyteller.net has an .mp3 interview with retreat founders Priscilla Howe and Liz Warren over at the Storyteller.net Amphitheater (from 2006?).