PORT ANGELES — The answer to the question “Who, me? A storyteller?” is absolutely yes.
So affirms Cherie Trebon, a veteran of many a nervous onstage appearance and the teacher of a workshop this Tuesday.
If you want to learn and practice storytelling — sharing tales with family members, in the work environment or at storytelling venues — Trebon has created this class for you.
“Sweaty palms? Butterflies in the stomach? Cat got your tongue? Reconnect to an ancient art form of storytelling and learn to express yourself,” she writes in the invitation to this first in a series of four workshops at the Port Angeles Library, 2210 S. Peabody St.
The Story People of Clallam County, nonprofit presenters of the fall Forest Storytelling Festival, monthly story swaps and other events, are sponsoring the series, with workshops running from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. the first Tuesday of each month in the library’s Raymond Carver Room.
Fees are $25 per class for Story People members and $30 for nonmembers; for the whole series, it’s $80 for members and $100 for nonmembers.
For details about membership and registration, see www.clallamstorypeople.org or phone 360-452-8092.
In her opening session Tuesday, Trebon will guide participants through light-hearted exercises designed to loosen the inhibitions and stimulate creativity.
Students will be telling stories before this first workshop is over, she promises.
Trebon will lead the next class Tuesday, Feb. 2. Titled “Who Me, a Storyteller?! Part 2,” it will build on skills covered in January, again in a fun, non-threatening ambiance, she said.
World-traveling storyteller Ingrid Nixon will give the March 1 workshop, an exploration of characters, plots and other story spices titled “Serve ’em Up Fresh.”
In this class for new and experienced tellers alike, students will get to spend time developing heroes and heroines using language, voices and gestures.
They will also delve into sources of traditional stories, from indexes to book collections.
The final class in the series, titled “Legend in Our Own Minds,” comes April 5.
Teacher Rebecca Hom will take participants on a journey through the old myths — and explore how to weave one’s own story into the fabric of such legends and fairy tales.
“We will look at our lives and our ‘mythic journeys,’ ” Hom writes in her invitation.
“We will also use current stories from newspapers, the Internet and other contemporary sources to look at the potential myth correlations of current times, asking the question: ‘A thousand years from now, how would this story stand as a myth?’ ”
Workshop exercises will go into the sensory elements of a story, from sight, sound, scent, taste and touch — to the sixth sense of emotional content.
There will be time, Hom added, for participants to share in the larger group if they choose, as well as opportunities for continued development after the class.
________
Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5062, or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
