Virginia Storytelling Alliance logo Virginia Storytelling Gathering 2005

Virginia Storytelling Gathering

2005

I encourage all of you to send in an audition tape or a workshop proposal for the 2005 Virginia Gathering.

The deadline is August 28, and you must be a VASA member in order to be selected.

Linda Goodman

NEWS: Gerald Fierst will be the Keynote Artist for the Virginia Storytelling Gathering 2005.

The VASA Gathering 2005 has been scheduled for April 1-3, 2005. We will once again be at Massanetta Springs Conference Center in Harrisonburg, VA and plans are already underway to make this even bigger and better than 2004.

Soon you will be receiving by USPS mail a Call For Storytellers and a Call For Workshop Presenters. Please consider submitting an audition tape or a workshop proposal, and read the Guidelines carefully.

We also need volunteers for a variety of jobs. If you are interested in helping us in any way, please contact me at this e-mail address.

Early in January, you'll receive a Virginia Storytelling Gathering brochure describing storyswaps, workshops, concerts, all in an affordable facility in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley of central Virginia.

If you're not receiving a copy of the VASA Vistas, our newsletter, then your membership in VASA has lapsed. Our mailings go out only to VASA members, so renew your membership now so you won't miss out on information about the Gathering 2005. Contact our Treasurer, Les Schaffer and he'll tell you how.

Or you can read about VASA.

The 2005 Gathering Committee is Bill Painter, Les Schaffer, Lynn Ruehlmann and Mimi Rockwell, Chairperson.

CALL FOR STORYTELLERS

VASA will present a Saturday evening concert on April 2, 2005 which will feature a nationally-known storyteller and four regional storytellers who will be selected by audition. This concert will be open to the general public for a nominal admission charge.

We invite and encourage you to submit a performance proposal for this annual concert. Regional storytellers must be members of VASA but do not have to be a Virginia resident.

Each storyteller should be prepared to tell one 10-15 minute story at the Saturday night concert. For this each will receive a $100 Honorarium. VASA will also pay the cost of the conference, two-nights' lodging and meals at Massanetta Springs in Harrisonburg, VA from April 1-3. Tandem teams will be treated as one storyteller, and only one person in that team will receive the benefits. Any story sharing at the storyswaps will be optional and receive no additional compensation.

The performance proposal must include a CD, an audio-tape, or a video-tape of the story you wish to tell. It must be appropriate for a family audience, not exclusively for children. If your recording has more than one story on it, please indicate clearly on the accompanying proposal exactly which story you want to audition and cue your audition tape to the audition selection. In addition, please fill out the following to be submitted with the recording.

PROPOSAL FORMAT:

  1. Presenter's name, address, phone, e-mail, and fax, if applicable, on the first page. Your name should appear at the top of each additional page you submit.
  2. Name of Story you are auditioning and if there is more than one story on the recording, exactly where it can be found.
  3. Types of stories you usually tell and types of audiences for whom you usually tell.
  4. A 50-word biography appropriate for press releases, parts of which may be used by the concert M.C. in your introduction and in the Storytelling Gathering brochure.
  5. Your storytelling resume and a photo. Additional promotional material is optional.

Send ONE copy of the audition material and THREE copies of the performance proposal postmarked by August 28, 2004 to Linda Goodman, P.O.Box 1351, Chesterfield, VA 23832-1351. Her e-mail is HappyTales@aol.com. Include a SASE for response to your performance proposal. If you want your recordings returned, please include an additional self-addressed mailer with appropriate postage included.

DEADLINE: AUGUST 28, 2004

CALL FOR WORKSHOP PRESENTERS

All workshops for the 2005 Gathering will be in 90-minute sessions and will be presented twice during the weekend. Each presenter will be given a $100 Honorarium and VASA will waive the fee for the conference and pay for two nights lodging and meals at Massanetta Springs Conference Center in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

Applicants to present a workshop must be members of VASA, but do not have to be a Virginia resident. Proposals must be postmarked no later than August 28, 2004.

We encourage variety in presentations but wish to select a balanced program that will offer something for all levels of experience. Workshops in 2004 dealt with adding music to programs, the use of the voice, the process of collecting oral stories, and the use of grants as a financial resource for both individuals and groups. For a list of suggestions for future desired workshops submitted on the 2004 Gathering evaluation forms by attendees, see the July - September 2004 issue of VASA Vistas, our organization's newsletter.

PROPOSAL FORMAT:

  1. Presenter's name, address, phone, e-mail, and fax number, if applicable, on the first page. Your name should appear at the top of each additional page you submit.
  2. Workshop title and brief description. Please include:
    1. Overall goal and objectives (what the participants will learn/receive)
    2. Proposed audience (i.e., beginner, experienced storyteller, librarian, teacher, faith & clergy, healers, business)
    3. Brief description of session, maximum 75 words (portions of this may be published in the brochure and/or website)
    4. Method you will use (i.e. lecture, experiential, discussion, etc.)
  3. Spatial needs, room arrangement preference, etc.
  4. Equipment needs (i.e., flipchart, table, overhead projector, audio-visual, etc.)
  5. A 50-word biography of the presenter, appropriate for publicity. If applicable, include when and where you presented this workshop before.
  6. Your storytelling resume and a photo. Supporting promotional material is optional.

Send THREE copies of the workshop proposal postmarked by August 28, 2004 to Norris Spencer, 406A 49th St., Virginia Beach, VA 23451, e-mail: tellspence@cs.com. Include a SASE for response to your proposal. If you want any of the materials returned, please include an additional self-addressed mailer with appropriate postage included.

DEADLINE AUGUST 28, 2004