Tuesday evening in the Memorial Student Center, girls laughed and clapped their hands, and guys taunted an imaginary crocodile with their hands extended from the sides of their heads. No it was not a kid’s camp at Texas A&M, but storytelling time. It is what happens when you put International Storyteller Diane Ferlatte in the room with well, anyone.
“It just kind of takes you back to when you were a kid,” said Diana Garza, a senior human resource development major. “The singing (and) the clapping, it feels so natural (and) so comfortable.”
Garza was one of about 50 people who listened to Ferlatte sing, dance and speak her way through several personal as well as culturally significant stories Tuesday. Ferlatte told about her fear of storms and her love for her father to Brear rabbit, who she said was a hero to the slaves. Students and other attendees were clapping, chanting and jumping with their eyes fixed on Ferlatte.
Ferlatte has been a full-time storyteller for more than 10 years, traveling the country and the world to entertain and inform audiences. She said she grew up hearing stories from everyone, her grandfather and uncle being primary sources. It was not until she had children of her own, two adopted children, that she began to practice the art of storytelling. Through word of mouth, she extended her storytelling to her church, then area schools and finally further locations. After four years of balancing her office job with traveling, she quit her job to pursue storytelling full time.
“I think it’s a good way to connect with other people; to come together to show how much alike we are,” Ferlatte said. “It’s a good way to entertain each other.”
When Ferlatte told her stories, she also became the story. When a fence was opened, she made a creaking noise. When she spoke of the witch, she shrieked. Ferlatte became the child, the rabbit, the farmer, the old lady, and consequently, throughout the performance, audience members jumped in surprise, laughed and awaited the resolution.
This is one reason Nancy Self said she brought Ferlatte to A&M. Self, the assistant clinical faculty in the Department of Teaching, Learning and Culture, said she had heard Ferlatte speak before and the way her stories broke down cultural barriers and entertained appealed to her.
“I wanted students to see her as an inspiration of what storytelling can do for children,” said Self, who teaches a class about creativity for children.
Ferlatte began her performance telling audience members they were going back to a time without modern entertainment conveniences, a time of “once upon a time.” She concluded the evening with advice.
“Talk to the kids,” she said. “Talk to each other. And tell stories.”