Know My Story!
Mamela! Listen! And Know My Story
Story Exchange. It is the experience of sharing, but also listening deeply enough to retell a story in your own words. And it’s had a deep impact on the students who have participated.
These are the reasons they chose to celebrate the act of revealing and receiving each other’s stories:
· We learn from each other’s paths.
· We see that we’re not alone in our feelings or experiences.
· And we learn that no one is a single story. Instead, we all have many stories, are built of layers of stories, many of which are not obvious at a quick glance.
And it is how we make visible and own our truths. Especially when they are difficult or historically silenced.
Speaking of making visible, one of our first tasks was to identify images, to brainstorm ways to visualize and convey the messages behind this story-exchange procession.
And so our two-week project opened with the construction of papier machéd cardboard shoes (as symbols of empathy, of moving into another’s experience);
mouths and ears (which remind us that it is not enough to dare to speak if there is no one to bear witness);
and masks (two-sided faces whose fronts reveal an array of not-yet-shared emotions, and whose backs show the tears and peaceful smile of a less-burdened self afterwards).
They are objects that will be performed, be the “choreographed sculptures” within our procession. Vividly imagined objects that also invite spectators to join and hear us.
While our previous processions also made use of such performing objects, there are a number of ways that this year’s project is turning out to be quite unlike our preceding three. Instead of the puppetry that has carried each narrative, we're experimenting with creating and performing something called a cantastoria, or "sung picture”, an art form that lends itself to visualizing our impressions of the story exchanges. It’s truly an experiment for us all, a work very much in progress, whose final shape has not yet revealed itself.
But possibly the most significant feature of this procession is that students have chosen to frame it more as a celebration than a protest or speak out. We still aim to creatively raise awareness, yet above all else, this year we honor what it is to “Come Out!” and to hold a safe space for each other to do so.
