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Brenda Byers excels in an ancient and popular tradition. |
Storytelling is an art form. It’s an ancient practice that is being rejuvenated by warm, expressive people like Brenda Byers. True storytelling is not read from a book. Instead, in the oral tradition, the story originates in the teller’s mind, expressed by word and gesture straight through to the listeners’ ears and, more importantly, eyes, mind and heart.
Who is Brenda Byers?
Before we engage further into the art form, let’s understand a little bit more about the artist herself, Brenda Byers, who has lived in Burlington for more than 14 years. When she first moved here, Brenda was at home with a young child and was ready to seek out something to do outside the home “and it wasn’t going to be exercise class!” In the Burlington Post-it section, she discovered a small paragraph from The Burlington Storytellers’ Guild. The ad
intrigued her as well as resonated with her enjoyment telling stories with her own children. So with her favorite children’s book in tow, she entered the Guild. What she quickly
realized was that no one was reading from a book. They were sharing stories by memory.
Often in oral tradition, an object is passed – typically a stone or rain stick made from the dried stem of a cactus. The spines are pushed in and seeds added. When it is upended,
it sounds like rain. This object would start and finish each program. When the rain ends, the story begins. The teller then has the floor where no one can interrupt.
Brenda’s foray into actual storytelling began about a year after she joined the Guild. She attended workshops as well as monthly meetings to “learn how to relate to the audience
through eye contact; how to really tell the story without the extraneous words; with well intentioned pauses.”
Stories go public
Her first public storytelling was at a Christmas Café at St. Philip’s Anglican Church. She was so nervous that her mouth went dry enough that it “clacked” in the microphone.
She remembers wistfully how she blanked out a couple of times. The point to storytelling is that there is no memorizing. The story is told from the heart which means it can be
different at each telling depending on audience’s response. What she learned early on is that a story must be true to itsorigins as well as suit the storyteller.
From there Brenda continued to hone her craft by working with Girl Guides and Brownies (yes, her first gigs were paid in cookies). She had the good fortune to partner with Marilyn Helmer for these tellings. They called themselves Tales from Two Tellers. They then took their stories into schools where they shared folk and fairy tales, as well as adaptations
to contemporary themes, like bullying. “Despite all the instant gratification visuals today, storytelling requires the audience to participate by creating images in their mind. It taps
into the power of their own imaginations,” she explains.
Female Heroes
Brenda also belongs to Uppity Women. This is a group which tells stories of real and fictional strong women heroes who led lives out of the ordinary. “Yes, there are female
heroes,” she quips jovially. The group was founded by Carol Leigh Wehking. The other participants are Glenna Janzen, Marina Lloyd and Marilyn Helmer. They have shared their stories with Retired Women Teachers of Ontario as well as at festivals, most recently the Toronto Storytelling Festival held in April, and other venues where women gather. She is also a member of the Storytellers School of Toronto and Storytellers of Canada/Conteurs du Canada. Each year storytellers gather in different locations to share stories, culture and hospitality and respond to storytelling issues.
Although the original Guild Brenda attended has folded, she now attends The Hamilton Storytelling Circle. They meet at Temple Anshe Sholom the third Monday of every month.
Barry Rosen, a talented teller in his own right, is the facilitator. Brenda has launched her own business called Storywyse Oral Tradition Storytelling. Please check out her
website at www.storywyse.com.
