FAU’s Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters held a two-night storytelling event on March 5 and 6 in the Boca campus’ Live Oak Pavilion.
“Storytelling for Peace and Community Building, Healthcare, Business and other arenas” mixed different ethnic and religious backgrounds to create a night of stories about peace.
“Storytelling for Healing” presented stories of strong-willed individuals dealing with life or death situations. The result was a moving experience for all that attended.
The featured performers at “Storytelling for Peace…” were Laura Simms, Antonio Sacre, Audrey Galex, and B.J. Abraham.
Galex, who’s Jewish, and Abraham, who’s Muslim, worked as a team using the conflict of their religions to develop peaceful stories. Abraham said that “Being able to touch the audiences through their laughs and seeing the smiles on their faces” gives her the passion to tell her stories.
Antonio Sacre, a Cuban American performer, had stories that were funny with a Latino spin. “Laughter opens up the audience’s mouth so you can reach in and touch their heart,” Sacre said.
Sacre had a sense of humor and the audience seemed to love the sound effects that he produced to go along with his energetic stories.
Laura Simms’ performance was also well-received by the audience.
“Each person in the audience has their own personal version of what the story was about,” Simms said. “Each person has a different imagination that makes the story personal to every individual.”
The featured performers at “Storytelling for Healing” were Diane Rooks, Gail Rosen and Fran Yardley.
Diane Rooks told a story about her life experiences with losing her son. When Rooks was asked why she enjoyed telling stories, she said, “I really get excited in front of the audience and their smiles give me an overwhelming feeling!”
Rooks is part of the Healing Story Alliance and said her mission is to explore the use of stories to inspire and heal, to increase our knowledge of storytelling, and to share our experience and our skills.
Fran Yardley had powerful stories about a retreat for women with cancer. Yardley was asked what she felt was beneficial about her storytelling and she said, “Through the stories they hear and giving them a safe space, they will discover the art of deep listening. This deep listening makes a person know themselves better.”
Gail Rosen told the story of a friend who was a Jewish girl growing up in Germany during World War II. The Jewish girl wrote poems that Rosen recited. Rosen drew her stories from a large journal that documented the tragic life of her now-deceased friend during that period in history.
Caren S. Neile, a professor at FAU, hosted and set up the concert. Neile wanted to give her students a real experience of watching a storytelling concert firsthand. Neile’s students came en masse to the event to support their professor. The students as well as everyone in the audience seemed moved throughout the two-day storytelling concert. In this day of mass media, the spoken word through storytelling proved to send a powerful message.
