Many generations have grown drowsy and wandered off to the land of dreams while hearing a good bedtime story. But with technology taking over, many parents have taken the easy way out by letting a mobile phone or a tablet play the role of story-teller.
With that happening, the art of story-telling — an engaging story through which a child and parent connect — is fast losing its ‘human touch’ as electronic voices take over.
To bring back stories that magically transport the listener into the world of the writer through the expressions of the storyteller, Teamwork Arts, an entertainment company in the performing arts space, is organising a Kahani Festival. The multi-city festival will be held at the Shiv Nadar School in Gurgaon on Friday and Saturday (October 16-17).
The festival is not just for the little ones, but also for adults to enjoy the timelessness of stories.
It hopes to nurture curiosity and bridge the gap of knowledge through the various mediums of storytelling and explore different mediums like theatre and music clubbed with other creative tools to tell the story.
Teamwork Arts managing director Sanjoy Roy said the festival will enchant and empower audiences of all ages as it explores a multitude of traditional and contemporary narratives from India and around the world. This year’s highlights include simple dreams by Ishara Puppet Theatre Trust; Vayu yoga workshop, puppet-making workshop and improv theatre.
The festival also plans to involve the audience and give them an opportunity to create and share their stories and explore the various tools of story-telling; narration, writing, animation and traditional forms of illustration. Personal stories will be explored and shared through festival workshops by the likes of actor Tom Alter. Apart from storytelling other workshops to look forward to include nagada, theatre, puppet-making, up-cycling, dance and fitness, improv theatre, cartoon making by Ajit Narayan, music workshop by Antoine and Vocal Rasta, Ishara Puppet Theatre and a Dance Ki Paatshala workshop. There will also be a Patangbaazi event, where children of all ages will be told the story of kites and taught how to make and fly them. In the Vayu yoga event, children will be taught to do yoga on hammocks.
The festival is on at Shiv Nadar School in Gurgaon between October 16 and 17. The timings are 9 a.m to 5 p.m. Details and the schedule is available onwww.kahaanifestival.com. Entry is free for all.
