a golden thread....

My Golden Thread workshops will be drawing on what I have learned in over thirty years of experience working with traditional stories, bringing them to life for a variety of audiences. In the course of this work I've studied a variety of writers and thinkers. Historians of religion, anthropologists, Jungian scholars and whenever possible listening to the voices of the indigenous- those who grew up in the old ways.

By now my approach to traditional tales is deeply intuitive. When I enter a sacred area, like that of myth, I truly feel I am entering a very particular world with certain rules and possibilities of expression. The same is true with fairy tales, animal fables and legends each have their own rules and their secrets are best unlocked by following a certain path.  Their classifications are important only so much as they are sign posts pointing the way to the proper approach. When you revive a fairy tale you do not treat it in the same way as a myth. You would not approach a queen in the same way as a shepherdess!

Now I want to help others discover the unbelievable depth that can be found in these old tales- thus this series of workshops called The Golden Thread: Finding Meaning in Traditional Tales. Each workshop series focuses on a different kind of traditional tale. The first journeys have been into the landscape of fairy tales. To deepen the work with fairy tales I have taken cues from dream analysis, amplification of symbols, Michael Chekov's gestural work and cultural explorations. The tellings that have resulted from the classes so far has been extraordinary.
The newest version of the workshop will begin this October 7th, 2015 on Wednesday evenings. The Golden Thread: Finding Meaning in Traditional Tales: Fairy tales

Training

 

My teacher and inspiration was the late Zbigniew Cynkutis, one of the founding members of the ground-breaking Polish Laboratory Theatre. He once said, "We train so that when the moment arises we can find something new instead of following the path of what we know already." 
 
Training has always been such an important part of my growth as an artist. I believe it is essential to continue to find ways to deepen and further the craft.

In my work on traditional tales, I am doing extensive reading on fairytales. Iona and Peter Opie's "The Classic Fairytales" is my book of choice right now. This book contains "the core of Fairytale literature." The stories within are the carefully researched and hard to find first versions of these tales. This packed volume contains extensive background not only on each tale but on the development of the fairytale itself. All of this is in preparation for my upcoming workshop in re-telling a fairytale, "The Golden Thread: finding meaning in traditional tales," a five evenings series beginning October 7th at Dancing Tree Storytelling Workshop in Needham, MA

On August 29th and 30th I will be taking an intensive two-day workshop in the Roy Hart Vocal Work. It is always a special treat to continue to learn, explore and, in this case, revisit techniques and challenges you have encountered in the past. Link teaching with learning. They go hand in hand.

Flowers and Presence

While working on my newest performance: The Language of Flowers* I spent hours pouring over volumes of myths and folktales about flowers that tell of their origins and their meaning. The work sensitized me to the unique qualities of each flowering plant. Because they were created to reflect the true essence of each plant, myths of origin in particular opened up the doors of perception. Now when I see these flowers, the stories surround them like an ethereal fragrance helping me to go deeper into the experience of each plant.

I've begun my own new custom of greeting the day by looking closely at flowers and honoring their delicate presence. Bringing them in the house to be with me when I work allows me to let them companion me through the day- a lovely contemplation. Today the delicate white spray of the cilantro and yesterday spicy, sweet geranium blossoms.

* The performance title refers to the Victorian custom of endowing every flower with a specific meaning. Daisies-innocence, Red Rose- passionate love etc.., Deciphering a bouquet using one of the many "Language of Flowers" booklets in circulation revealed the hidden messages.

Meeting the cultural representative of the Kurdistan Regional Governmnet

Tom Megan, Najat Abdullah and Diane Edgecomb

Had a wonderful meeting with Najat Abdullah - cultural representative for the Kurdistan Regional Government in the U.S. when I was in Washington DC this week. He is 100% behind the Kurdish story collection project. http://livingmyth.com/about/projects/a-fire-in-my-heart/ Now to find other groups and other support. My vision is a pan-Kurdish story collecting effort with an internet based platform to upload videos, curated by Kurdish scholars from the four different dialects. Loved the moment when I said to Najat: "I have a crazy idea." and he responded, "I love crazy ideas, t hat is the way to dream big!"

In the Groves- our annual Summer Solstice journey is around the corner

Nature is so alive at this time of year not just with the emergence of butterflies but with the return of the birds - trees budding - people out n about! It's just heavenly!!

We celebrate this time of natural beauty with an annual outdoor performance event that weaves through the groves of Boston's only tree sanctuary, the Arnold Arboretum.

The performance, called "IN THE GROVES,"  is an evocative story and music journey taking place on June 19th and June 20th, the time of the Summer Solstice. To make the event truly special we limit our audience size to only thirty.

Hope to see you there.... Diane

Emergence

This spring I had the fortune of witnessing an emergence, or rather seeing the result of one, the chrysallis I had sheltered all winter was split open at the top and a small black swallowtail butterfly was gently fanning its wings perched on the screened windows of my back porch.

I had seen the female black swallowtail last August as it lingered by my fennel plant- not knowing why it was on fennel that had no blossoms I did some research and realized fennel (along with parsley and dill) is one of the host plants to the caterpillars. Much later - after keeping an eye out for it- the caterpillar was large enough to recognize and I took it in to offer it what protection and hospitality I could.

This youngster would eat only fennel. Fennel and fennel and more fennel. Raising itself up on its hind legs it guided the delicate, anise scented fronds to its mouth.

Finally late in the fall it went into pupae state emerging on Sunday, May 10th to my surprise and delight. Since then I have seen it twice in my backyard checking out the yard and hopefully noticing that, earlier than ever before, I have planted large fennel plants hoping for another guest this year. Guess you could say I don't have a butterfly garden I have one for caterpillars.


Here is a short video of the black swallowtail one day old on the back porch before I set it free.

https://vimeo.com/127544009

Holding the just emerged black swallowtail.

Storying the Landscape

In ancient times a story, a place and a time of year walked hand in hand. Now those of us who are tradition tellers need to bring that possibility to the landscapes that surround us. I call this work Living Myth Events.

When working on a Living Myth Event I try to match not just a location but a time of year. This is a tool of the ancients- not just where but when. I choose a time of year when a traditional celebration was held. Often story has already played a part.

So far I have held three major Living Myth events:

Millennium LabyrinTh with its elements of the Theseus myth. In this event twin Ariadnes guided subway commuters inside the Boston MBTA safely into the Millennium; In the Groves an annual event at the Summer Solstice with collaborator harper Margot Chamberlain in which tree myths and songs celebrate the large tree sanctuary of Arnold Arboretum; and now Flora's Holiday at Tower Hill Botanic Garden celebrating the first days of May and flowers.

Don't forget what you are storying! In this case our walking singing May Day journey focuses is on vast areas filled with unusual Flowers.

Flora's Holiday!
Where: Tower Hill Botanic Garden in Boylston, MA truly a springtime paradise of blossoms.
When: May 1st and 2nd the highlight of Flora's ancient festival.
What: Flower myths, legends and songs.

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