TALKS/WORKSHOPS/LECTURE DEMONSTRATIONS

Scott and Johanna Hongell-Darsee, jhdarsee@yahoo.com, (505) 353-2790

We live in Albuquerque, New Mexico, but are happy to tour all around the country.

Medieval Ballads and Their Journey
Myths and Legends in Dramatic Art
Cross Cultural Storytelling
Bharata Natyam

MEDIEVAL BALLADS AND THEIR JOURNEY

What we today call medieval ballads, in fact has a long and varied history. These sung stories have travelled through time, from courts to cabins to cities and over the seas; from written verse to oral tradition, back to written form and into popular music of today. Melodies and content have traveled and changed shape along the journey.

Johanna has worked on using medieval ballads in dramatic presentations for many years and has translated many Swedish language ballads into English. Scott has created guitar arrangements for the ballads we use. In this talk, lecture demonstration or hands on workshop we will take a look back in time and try to trace the ballads on their adventurous journeys all over Europe and Scandinavia as well as in the United States.

MYTHS AND LEGENDS IN DRAMATIC ART

Around the world, different techniques of telling stories with the help of drama, mime, dance and music have developed. Different ways of using the body to tell a story, to describe a landscape, create characters and emotions have evolved.

Johanna has worked with portraying traditional stories in dramatic arts for over 25 years. She has studied dramatic arts and mime in Sweden and France. She also studied dance and mime in India for 15 years. In this talk, lecture demonstration or hands on workshop she will teach about using breathing, visualization, gesture and rhythm to transform stories into dramatic art.

CROSS CULTURAL STORYTELLING

Our world is full of stories. Wonderful stories of heroes, heroines, villains and monsters. What are the challenges we meet when we are to tell a story from one culture to an audience from another? Many characters and plots can be found all around the world. Others are very specific to certain cultures. How can we convey the inner meaning of stories between cultures?

Johanna has long experience of working with traditional stories in different cultures and telling to audiences from around the world. In this talk, lecture demonstration or hands on workshop Johanna and Scott will touch on the different challenges met in cross cultural storytelling.

BHARATA NATYAM

This dance form has its origin in the temples of Southern India. Rhythms, hand gestures, sculptural poses, eye movements and facial expressions are all used to convey stories from the Hindu mythology.

Johanna studied Bharata Natyam for 15 years with Srimati Savithri Jagannatha Rao, as well as the mimic part of the dance with Srimati Kalanidhi Narayanan. She has also performed the dance all around Europe and in the US.