Angelyn DeBord

Born and raised in an isolated area of the Smoky Mountains, Angelyn DeBord is a storyteller, playwright, visual artist, director and workshop leader. An original member of Appalshop's Roadside Theater, Angelyn has spent the last twenty-five years performing and leading workshops all over America and in Europe. Her original plays have been performed at the Kennedy Center, Los Angeles Center for the Arts, Brooklyn Academy of Music and produced for PBS.

She has led workshops in community centers, women's shelters, in-service for social service workers, teacher and librarians, for students in colleges, elementary, middle and high schools, and at festivals such as Augusta Heritage Center, the Swannanoa Gathering, Cornell University, The University of Iowa and London International Theater Festival.

These storytelling/theater workshops will give students to express themselves and an opportunity to thoroughly understand the dramatic elements that are inherent in all literature. 

To start off the residency, each day I will tell the student an Appalachian, Cherokee or European folktale. This storytelling performance is quite an event!  There is much group participation, lots of laughter and much fun for everyone! 

In my teacher in-services, teachers have an opportunity to explore and share their own life stories in a fun and educational manner!

During the residency, the students will gain an appreciation of storytelling as an art form and as a valuable form of communication.  They will be given a chance to break a story down into the dramatic elements, visually illustrate the story, identify the sequence of events and, finally, stage different scenes and settings from the story.

My residencies can be adapted to various lengths of time.  I am happy to talk with teachers about how a residency can be designed to meet the specific needs of a class or a situation.  Appropriate for any grade level, these residencies can be applied to a large number of Kentucky Core Content qualifications in social studies, art, drama and humanities.  In an ideal residency, we will work as teams to decide how this residency will best address what you, your class and your school need!

Samples from 5-20 day residency:

• Identifying dramatic elements that exist in a folktale: A folktale is told to the class.  Then, the students are led in exercises to identify the following dramatic elements within the folktale:  acts, scenes, settings, characters, and action.  Characters are identified.  The folktale is divided up into scenes. We also decide the sequence of events. 
  
   
• Illustrations/identification/understanding of characters and scenes:  Each student visually illustrates a scene or a part of a folktale.  They share their illustrations and discuss what ‘scenes, settings, characters and action’ are portrayed in each illustration. We discuss the term sequence.  Each illustration is put into the appropriate sequence, creating the entire story.  Viewing the illustrations, the class realizes that each person has an entirely different interpretation of the story with his/her illustration.  I introduce the word imagination and point out that, within that word, are the words image and magic. As the students share their drawings with the class and tell the section of story that their illustration represents, we enjoy a moment of Imagination Celebration! 
  
  
• Portfolio writing assignment:  A story is told and we discuss point of view.  How would the story be different if different characters told the story?  Each student chooses a character, identifies him or herself as that character, explores what that particular character would see, touch, taste, hear or smell, and then writes the story from that character’s point of view. 
  
  
• Narrative and character voice:  We identify the narrative and character voices.  How do these differ?  What makes them most effective?  Give examples and experiment with both approaches to storytelling.
  
  
• Performance:  At this stage, with an understanding of sequence, scenes, characters, action, point of view, narrative and character voice, we divide up into small groups and prepare a folktale for performance.  We study tandem storytelling.  We work on focus, projection and expression.  We work as a team!  Oftentimes, this storytelling performance provides an opportunity for the community to come and share stories. 
  
  
• Focus and listening skills:  As each student gains class focus in sharing their section of the story and their illustration, we discuss focus and listening skills.  What makes an excellent listener?  Why is listening important to story sharing?

Within a residency, the participants will:

1. Become able to break a story into its dramatic elements
2. Learn the importance of speaking clearly and slowly.
3. Develop confidence in speaking in front of a large group of people.
4. Experience the importance of memory work and performance presentation skills.
5. Increase vocabulary through the use of dramatic language
6. Understand the importance of listening to and following directions.
7. Experience the strength and joy of working together in a harmonious fashion.
8. Realize the importance of respect and focus.

Angelyn DeBord is available for performances, commencements, keynote speaker, conferences or workshops at any age. Please contact her for fees.