Here it is, our last secret! (For now.) As many of you know, this Saturday, January 28th, Ex Fabula travels to Alverno’s Pitman Theatre for the New Year Spectacular with the theme “Our Little Secret.” Unlike our monthly Slams, this special event features 10-minute curated stories and is an afternoon (yep, a 3 pm show) not to be missed.
We’ve built the anticipation as high as possible, so let’s meet the last three Spectacular Storytellers!
The secret’s out! Our Spectacular little secret! This Saturday, January 28th, we’ll take Ex Fabula to Alverno’s Pitman Theatre for the New Year Spectacular with the theme “Our Little Secret.” Unlike our monthly StorySlams, this special event features 10-minute curated stories and is an afternoon (yep, it’s a 3 pm show) not to be missed.
The Ex Fabula Fellows are a unique group, coming from various demographic backgrounds and career fields throughout the Milwaukee area. After going through 6 weeks of storytelling workshops together this fall, the Fellows are now hosting interactive conversations around the city. Scientific research shows that storytelling has the unique ability to meaningfully connect people and create conditions for empathy, and the Fellows are leveraging the power of story to address some of the most pressing issues in the Greater Milwaukee area – segregation, economic, and racial inequality.
With a new season well underway, it’s a great time to become an Ex Fabula member. I recently talked with member Lee Ann Kingston to learn more about her and her Ex Fabula experiences. She’s a retired public school teacher, a mother of three, and a grandmother to five grandsons and a granddaughter.Continue reading “Meet Lee Ann”→
by Ex Fabula blogger Kimberly M Ousley with Jacqueline Rice.
You’ve been to a few StorySlams, attended a workshop; perhaps you’ve volunteered a time or two. Looking for another way to get involved? How about a season membership? Ex Fabula memberships were introduced at the start of Season Five and have been in full swing ever since. Kimberly sat down with Jacqueline Rice to learn more about her interest in Ex Fabula and the reasons she became a member.
Jacqueline is a Wisconsin native, librarian-at-large, mother, wife, wordsmith & caretaker of the environment. And though she’s traveled from Tobago to Tasmania, Milwaukee is her home.
Holiday greetings Ex Fabulites! We hope the December rain isn’t stopping you from enjoying this fair city of ours. As we prepare for the Spectacular, we decided to ask the Spectacular Storytellers for their thoughts on great storytelling.Continue reading “Spectacular Storytellers”→
by guest blogger and Ex Fabula volunteer Ann Marie Moss
We humans have a hard time with listening. Many of us seem to have an innate tendency to think of our response within the first three words of our conversation partner’s comment, rather than hearing their their full statement before considering our reply. When I consciously try to listen for the last word of someone’s sentence before thinking of how I’ll answer, the conversation seems richer, with a deeper connection. (I first discovered this at an Ex Fabula workshop during an exercise led by storytelling coach Karen Kolberg!)
The author’s Grandma. “She’s wearing a necklace I made her. This is at Easter, about two months before she passed in 2010.”
I find this to be especially true with my family. Since I’ve known these people my whole life, it is particularly easy to interrupt them, assuming I know their opinions and what they will say next. Of course this isn’t true.
The holiday season before my grandmother passed away, I learned more about her – her childhood, her parents, her early romances, her loyalty – than I had in my 25+ years prior on this earth. She always had such energy, but after a tough illness, she was getting frail. It took that extreme switch for me to choose to listen. I sought out her opinion and asked to hear stories from her life – how her parents came here, about her experience in the city. She shared brilliant insights into life and expressed opinions that were completely contradictory to my assumptions; she was more real, less judgmental, and more accepting than I had ever experienced. After her passing the next spring, I was so thankful I engaged in conscious LISTENING over the holidays.
This year at Thanksgiving, I’m looking forward to participating in The Great Listen with other members of my family. It’s nothing formal or serious, simply a movement to consciously listen to each other when we gather for Thanksgiving. The Great Listen encourages us to spend a few extra moments with someone, learning about something important to them. I think of it as a mini-Story Corps (who, incidentally, started this movement).
Will you join me?
How to participate in the Great Listen
StoryCorps is working with teachers and high school students across the country on this project – but it’s open to everyone.
Download the StoryCorps app on any mobile device.
Sit down with a friend or family member during Thanksgiving weekend.
Use the app’s built-in prompts to record an interview – which you can publish or keep for yourself.
Of course, you can make this experience your own. Do what works for you! Ignore the prompts and come up with your own questions. Maybe even skip the app and track down an old tape deck or super 8. The important thing is that you take time to listen.
Afterward, please share you photos and comments about your experience on social media with the hashtag #ExFabListen15.
Our ALL STARS event is almost here! On Wednesday the 13th, the Audience Favorite storytellers will take the stage at Turner Hall Ballroom. Last week, we introduced three tellers and our special guest. Today, we are introducing three more tellers. To help you get to know them, we asked them the question,Continue reading “My Story: Meet the rest of the ALL STARS”→
The word community is relative to one’s social ideals and practices. Often times we only scratch the surface of communities; not knowing that each individual, each entity has their own unique tale rife with elements that blindly connect each of us. Continue reading “My Community: Getting to know the ALL STARS”→
