March 4, 2013

Workshop at the Ageless Conference 2012

Filed under: Storytelling Workshops,Uncategorized — Sheila @ 3:16 pm

As part of the Singapore International Storytelling Festival 2012 I presented a workshop called Tales that Bind: Storytelling to Bridge the Generation Gap at the Ageless Conference: Towards an Age-Friendly World. The conference  was held in Singapore on the 6th & 7th September 2012.

Just before  the conference I gave a radio interview for  the MAKING A DIFFERENCE  spot on  938LIVE. You can listen to the podcast here.

I enjoyed my workshop and  talking and listening to the other presenters. I came away very impressed by the work they were doing  to make  the world a less ageist place. Good news for those of us who are lucky enough to  be growing old.

Ageless Conference 1

March 3, 2013

Storytelling Workshops For Hong Kong Students

Filed under: Storytelling Workshops — Sheila @ 10:46 pm

In July 2012 I spent a week teaching storytelling to 2 groups of primary and secondary students in Hong Kong. This was part of the annual ‘English is Everywhere’ programme organised by the Standing Committee on Language Education and Research (SCOLAR) which is the language promotion arm of the Hong Kong Bureau of Education. As in previous years I was brought in to do this work by an organisation called Shakepeare4All. (An organisation that does marvellous work in making Shakespeare come to life for young people and a lot more besides). We were working with traditonal riddle stories which I had specially written for the project. The level of English proficiency among the students was very varied, but they were all hard working and very enthusiastic. At the end of the week I was very proud of what they had achieved and I was even prouder when I heard how well they had done telling their stories to audiences at The ‘English is Everywhere’ Fun Day at the beginning of October.

May 26, 2012

Free Parent and Child Storytelling Workshop at Woodlands Regional Library Sunday 17th June 2012, 2pm to 4pm

Filed under: Storytelling Workshops — Sheila @ 1:37 pm

May 20, 2012

Filed under: Storytelling Festivals — Sheila @ 6:11 pm

 I’m off  to Australia  to do a  workshop and take part in a family storytelling concert at the Sydney International Storytelling Conference 2012. This will be a conference where the majority  of participants are storytellers; a great opportunity to exchange ideas  and learn form each other   I’m really looking forward to meeting up again with some of the  storytellers I met at the Perth Storytelling Confest way  back in  2005, and  making lots of new friends.

April 30, 2012

Storytelling Sessions for Families at the Asian Parents Forum: 27 May 2012

Filed under: Storytelling Performances — Sheila @ 3:53 pm

Join Sheila Wee for two lively sessions of storytelling for the whole family at the Asian Parents Forum on Sunday 27th May 2012. (Part of the Asian Festival of Children’s Content).

Session 1: Animal Antics

Session 2:  A Forest Full of Stories  

Ages 4 and up. (Children under 7 must be accompanied by an adult).

See  the e-flyer for the  Asian Parents Forum 2012

For more programme and ticketing details please see: singaporebookcouncil.eventbrite.com

See the e-flyer for the Asian Festival of Children’s Content 2012

October 25, 2011

A River of Stories: Tales and Poems from Across the Commonwealth

Filed under: Uncategorized — Sheila @ 11:12 am

 I am happy to announce that my retelling of a story from the Malay Annals has just been published in an anthology to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the Commonwealth Institute. There is a story or poem from every Commonwealth country and my Raja Suran story represents Singapore. There is a foreword by Prince Charles and my favourite illustrator, Jan Pienkowski did the illustrations.

Click HERE to see part of my story with Jan Pienkowski’s illustration. It’s on page 4-5

BITESIZE WORKSHOP AT THE ESPLANADE

Filed under: Uncategorized — Sheila @ 10:38 am

 

Click here for more details  and to book a place on this mini-workshop.

October 14, 2011

Spooky Stories at The Asian Civilisations Museum

Filed under: Uncategorized — Sheila @ 4:12 am

STORYWISE is providing the storytelling component of the Asian Civilisations Museum’s Fright Night on the evening of Friday 29th October 2011, so do come down and be spooked by THE DARKER SIDE OF TWILIGHT a haunting performance of Asian Horror Tales by by Kamini Ramachandran & Verena Tay.

Watch the  ACM Fright night trailers.

Trailer 1

Trailer 2

Trailer 3

September 30, 2011

FREE STORYTELLING WORKSHOP FOR PARENTS AND CHILDREN

Filed under: Storywise Events,Uncategorized — Sheila @ 10:27 am

As part of the South West District Arts Festival, Sheila will be conducting a parent/child storytelling workshop at Jurong West Public Library on Saturday 15th October from 2pm to 3.30pm.  For enquiries call 6332 3255.

September 23, 2011

Article in The New Paper and the Sunday Times – September 2011

Filed under: Uncategorized — Sheila @ 3:43 am

Click here to read the article Article_TNP & ST_Sept 2011

 

August 19, 2011

Malaysia International Storytelling Festival 2011

Filed under: Uncategorized — Sheila @ 2:32 pm

I am really looking forward to taking part in the Malaysia International Storytelling Festival which takes place  on 10th & 11th September. It will be a richly packed weekend, I will  doing 4 workshops.

Step Into Storytelling – A  workshop on basic storytelling  skills for beginners   (On both mornings)

Telling Together – Interactive Storytelling For Children With Special Needs (Sat’ afternoon)

The Story Basket – Simple yet effective storytelling techniques to use with children (Sun’ afternoon)

and taking part in a showcase performance on both Saturday and Sunday evenings.

The Power Of The Tale – The Storytellers’ Showcase Performance

Singapore International Storytelling Festival

Filed under: Uncategorized — Sheila @ 2:17 pm

September for me  means the Singapore International Storytelling Festival.  It’s the time I  get to  meet some of my storytelling friends from around the world and to make some new friends. There is  always lots of sharing of stories and ideas and always something interesting to learn.

This year I will  be opening the  second day of the  Asian Congress of Storytellers with a story, and then conducting a workshop on storytelling for children with intellectual disabilities in the afternoon.  Then that same evening I  will be performing in  Ramayana, The Asian Epic at the National Museum Gallery Theatre.

April 17, 2011

Stories Alive: Teacher Workshops in Hong Kong

Filed under: Uncategorized — Sheila @ 2:37 am

In February and March 2011 I conducted a series of seven 2-day storytelling workshops for English teachers  in Hong Kong. These workshops were commissioned by the English Alliance (SCOLAR) which is part of the Hong Kong Bureau of Education.

I was fortunate to work with wonderful local partners on this project; Dr Vicki Ooi, Lynn Yau and their fantastic staff  from Shakespeare4All. It was obvious that they  are as passionate about drama education as I am about storytelling.

It was only my second trip to Hong Kong and though I  didn’t get time for much sightseeing, I felt that by working closely with so many teachers I got a real insight into at least one aspect of the country.

For many of the teachers it was their first experience of storytelling and it was wonderful  to watch them develop confidence in their telling abilities. Here  are some photos  of the workshops….

This demonstrates that you don't have to be good at drawing to tell a drawing story.

Many discoveries can come from the sharing of ideas.

April 16, 2011

Bonding Through Storytelling: A Workshop for Parents of Greenridge Primary School, Singapore

Filed under: Uncategorized — Sheila @ 10:52 am

Sheila and English HOD Mdm Shanthi Devi demonstrate how you can use questions to plunge into your imagination and create details for your story.

Storywise at the Ramayana Revisited Exhibition: Jan 2010 to Feb 2011 – Peranakan Museum Singapore

Filed under: Uncategorized — Sheila @ 6:28 am

Image courtesy of Peranakan Museum, Singapore.

Sheila telling an episode from the Ramayana at the RAMAYANA REVISITED exhibition at the Peranakan Museum, Singapore.

Storywise  was commissioned by the museum to develop a storytelling programme  in which a team of six storytellers told consecutive episodes from the Ramayana in the exhibition space.  This  programme which  was very well received by museum patrons of all ages and nationalities,  ran over a series of the museum’s  Open House events  in 2010 and 2011.

The Ramayana Revisited Team of Tellers

From left to right: Dolly Leow, Sheila Wee, Juriah Atan, Helen Tan, Kamini Ramachandran, Jessie Goh and Nancy Leppard.

December 9, 2010

My Keynote at the Penang State Library for PINKS 2010 (10min.14sec)

Filed under: Uncategorized — Sheila @ 12:49 pm

This is my part of the innovative 4-person keynote at the conference at the Penang State Library in Butterworth, Malaysia. My fellow keynote presenters were, Margaret Read MacDonald, Wajuppa Tossa and Jeeva Raghunath.

Article on PINKS Festival 2010 in the Penang Economic Monthly

Filed under: Storytelling Articles,Storytelling Festivals — Sheila @ 12:00 pm

This September I was invited to Penang, Malaysia, to tell stories and conduct workshops at their first international storytelling fesival.

Click on the link below to find out more about the Penang International Kids Storytelling Festival:

Article on PINKS Festival 2010 in the Penang Economic Monthly

September 30, 2010

Sheila at Penang International Kids Storytelling Festival

Filed under: Uncategorized — Sheila @ 4:36 pm

Sheila at PINKs_STAR NEWSPAPER

March 20, 2010

Videos of the Art of Storytelling

Filed under: Uncategorized — Sheila @ 2:19 pm

Click here to take a look at my videos on the art of storytelling made by Bananamana.com.

September 26, 2009

The Old Man in the Corner

Filed under: Story Collection — Tags: , , , , , , — Sheila @ 2:04 pm
Audio: The Old Man in the Corner

An Adaptation of a Nepali Folktale

Told by Sheila Wee

The old man lay in the corner and remembered.

Remembered a time when he was young and strong.

When he ran through the valleys tending his father’s goats.

But now he is here, old and weak, lying in a corner.

No more running – just a few stumbling steps.

Trembling hands, and a mind that remembers the past, better than it understands the present.

Yes, once he was young and strong and now he is old and weak.

But he has a family.

A son, son’s wife and a grandson – the light of his life.

The boy plays on the floor beside him.

Feeds him patiently with a spoon.

Makes him want to live.

Yes, once he was young and strong, able to dig and plant, to weed and harvest.

Able to take care of his family.

Life was good then and food was plentiful.

It is not so now.

Old and weak he lies on his bed and sees the weariness in his son’s eyes; working so hard for so little.

He sees despair in the eyes of the young woman, his son’s wife, as she tries to make the food feed all four of them.

He sees his grandson grow thinner, not taller.

The young wife looks at the old man lying in the corner – near the end of his life.

The old man who is eating the food that would help her son grow tall and strong.

She thinks of the lifting and carrying of that old body and how it takes her time and strength.

Time that could be spent helping her husband in the fields, growing the crops that could lift them out of poverty.

Late in the night the old man lies in the corner and listens.

Listens to fierce whispers, to tears and sighs between husband and wife.

He hears his name, then the word “temple” and he understands.

Morning comes. The old man lies in the corner and remembers. Remembers how he had placed the stones and shaped

the mud to build this house – this home. This home, which he must now leave.

His grandson laughs and chatters by his side. A sound he will hear no more.

And now comes his son carrying a basket.

The basket that his own dear wife had woven for him, years before. She had woven it strong, strong enough to carry

the heaviest of burdens, wood, rice, or even an old man.

Then came two arms gently lifting. Two eyes downcast, not meeting his. A mouth too ashamed to speak.

And he was now a burden, carried in a basket. A collection of old bones to be taken away.

But then came a voice, young and pure.

“What are you doing father?  Where are you taking grandfather?”

“To the temple my son, they will look after him there.”

“Is that a good place father?”

“Yes, my son.”

“Then bring back the basket, don’t forget. For one day I will need it to carry you to the temple too.”

A moment passed.

A glance went between husband and wife.

Then two arms again were  gently lifting and the basket was empty and the old man was once more in his rightful place.

In the corner of the house, but at the centre of the family.

© Sheila Wee 2007

Please feel free to tell this story, but if you want to publish it in any way please contact me for permission at admin@storywise.com.sg

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