miércoles, 28 de septiembre de 2011

Crónica del viaje a Singapur

Singapur es como New York, pero en oriente. Hay que mirar hacia arriba para disfrutarla. Lo primero que me sorprendió fue la autopista de barcos sin fin cerca del puerto. Singapur es moderno, ordenado y limpio, excesivamente limpio. Si uno arroja un papel al suelo le cae una multa de 300€. Prohíben comer en el metro, sin embargo no ponen reparos por comer dentro del Museo Nacional donde se celebró el Singapore International Storytelling Festival 2011 al que fui invitada. 

Antes de la actuación en el teatro del Museo me dieron en los pasillos del Museo una bandeja de comida asiática riquísima, y yo me encontré con cara de interrogación buscando una puerta que diera a la calle. Aquí puedes comer, me dijeron. Casi no probé bocado. Me parecía un sacrilegio perfumar las obras de arte con el olor de la salsa Teriyaki. Además se me unió la tensión del cuello esperando en cualquier momento el silbato del guardia de seguridad para ponerme una multa de 300€. Pero no pasó nada.  

El país es una ciudad grande, en una hora se recorre de norte a sur y de este a oeste. Así que el día que fuimos, Enrique y yo, a dar una conferencia a los bibliotecarios  en la Biblioteca Nacional de Singapur, nos trajeron un taxi para llevarnos hasta allí porque la Biblioteca Nacional, según ellos, estaba lejos del hotel. Tardamos 53 segundos porque pillamos el semáforo en rojo. La distancia era tres cuadras. Es necesario pensar que hay grandes distancias en la ciudad para sentir un país grande. En Tenerife ocurre lo mismo, en dos horas das la vuelta a la isla. Mucha gente que vive en el norte cuando va al sur se aloja en un hotel o se lleva la caravana para pasar noche.

El primer día en Singapur fuimos a un centro comercial que había próximo al hotel y pensamos que era una gran suerte tenerlo tan cerca para comprar las cosas básicas que siempre te olvidas en casa. Era un centro comercial inmenso, de cuatro alturas, y terminamos con los pies hinchados. Al salir y cruzar la calle vimos que enfrente había otro mall (centro comercial) de las mismas dimensiones, y otros dos a los lados, y una segunda cuadra más allá había un quinto  mall. De repente nos dimos cuenta de que la inmensa y amplia calle Orchard había un centro comercial tras otro. Un edificio, un mall. Singapur es un inmenso centro comercial para todo Asia. Allí se encuentran todas las marcas occidentales y asiáticas, todos los productos, todas las rarezas y todos los precios. Lo único que no encontramos fue un e-reader Sony.

Un alto porcentaje de la población tiene rasgos chinos, otros rasgos indios, otros malayos, indonesios. Pero yo no sé distinguirlos. Había occidentales, pero éramos en comparación un porcentaje pequeño muy visible.  En los días que estuvimos se celebraba la gran fiesta china  y por las noche la calle de Clarke Quay a orillas del río se transformaba en una hermosa calle con lámparas chinas en forma de dragón, guerreros, animales mitológicos y barcos flotantes iluminados. Al final de la calle había unas atracciones que te quitaban la respiración con solo verlas en funcionamiento.

La zona de Clarke Quay está llena de bares, pubs, restaurantes, que no tienen nada que envidiar a la zonas de copas de España. Música a todo volumen, gente bebiendo a las puertas de los bares, cientos y cientos de personas quemando la noche. En la imagen, el pub CLINIC que imita a una clínica. Uno puede tomarse una copa en una silla de ruedas, o beber una cerveza con la sonda de un gota a gota, la misma que se pone en los hospitales a los enfermos; te puedes sentar en una camilla, o en un sillón de dentista como el de la foto. Los camareros iban vestidos de enfermeros.

Se camina con total tranquilidad por las calles de Singapur. Es uno de los países más seguros que he estado.
En esos días estuve participando en el Singapore International Storytelling Festival 2011 como invitada de España. Enrique Páez y yo fuimos los primeros españoles que pisaron ese Festival. El trato fue buenísimo, la gente muy amable y el público increíble.

En el International Showcase tuve el honor de cerrar la contada colectiva en la que compartimos escenario: Randel McGee, Bobby Norfolk, Ruth Kirkpatrick, Lili Rodrigues-Pang, Kamini Ramachandran y Rosemarie Somaiah. Esa noche tenía que haber contado cuentos también Sherry Norfolk pero sufrió una fractura en la muñeca izquierda el día anterior y pasó la noche en el hospital, al día siguiente ya estaba contando como una profesional. El Festival estuvo  lleno de energía y actividades. Si pinchas  aquí puedes ver todos los invitados nacionales e internacionales y las actividades. Yo lo disfruté mucho.

Y qué más deciros, que el Taller de bebecuentos que impartí en inglés estuvo lleno hasta los topes. La gente que acudió, profesionales y educadores, fueron muy participativos y con muchas ganas de contar cuentos. Quiero dar las gracias a todos ellos por esos momentos de intercambio, de experiencias y de risas que compartimos juntos.  

Los Talleres de Escritura Creativa de Enrique Páez también fueron un éxito, como siempre. Se notaba el oficio que tiene de años como escritor y profesor de escritura creativa. A lo que se sumó su buen inglés. La gente salió encantada.  Y nosotros mucho más.  

Aquí dejo algunas fotos más del Festival y del viaje. 






viernes, 23 de septiembre de 2011

Entrevista publicada en Revista de Letras

Acaba de salir publicada una entrevista sobre mi libro "Los secretos del cuentacuentos" Ed. CCS en  la "Revista de Letras" nuevo canal de libros del periódico LaVanguardia.es, por Natalia González de la Llana Fernández. Gracias, Natalia. 
Pincha en el enlace para leer la entrevista. http://www.revistadeletras.net/beatriz-montero-queria-ser-cuentacuentos/
Esta es la portada de este número.
 

También etá en portada del periódico La Vanguardia.com (España) en cultura.




miércoles, 21 de septiembre de 2011

Comenzó mi espacio de Televisión dentro del programa infantil "La Merienda" de El Día TV.

En septiembre comenzó mi espacio de cuentacuentos dentro del programa infantil de televisión "La Merienda" de "El Día Televisión" presentado por Mariam Moragas.

Nos vemos en el Día Televisión  en el programa la Merienda de 18:00 a 19:00 horas de Lunes a Viernes. 10:00-11:00 Sábado y Domingo. Además de cuentos hay manualidades, dibujos animados, reecetas y muchas más cosas divertidas.

Os dejo con ^"El gusano, el animal más fuerte del mundo" un cuento mío recogido de la tradición Masai.

domingo, 18 de septiembre de 2011

Otro reportaje en el periódico The Hindu (India): To tell a story well (Contar una historia bien)

Return to frontpage

To tell a story well

A. SHRIKUMAR
SHARE  ·   COMMENT   ·   PRINT   ·   T+  
Spanish storyteller Beatriz. Photo: A. Shrikumar
The HinduSpanish storyteller Beatriz. Photo: A. Shrikumar
A session of story telling can improve your diction and vocabulary
Hands moved, legs danced, mouths sang and the eyes spoke in unison. Hundreds of kids sat on the floor with rapt attention and repeated the actions and expressions. Drama and cacophony marked the story telling session at Mahatma School. “Stories for long had captured everyone's interest and now, it has evolved much. You can tell, dance, write or mime a story” says Geeta Ramanujan, Executive Director, Kathalaya Trust, Bangalore.
Beatriz Montero and Enrique Paez from Spain are two other story tellers who tagged along with Geeta on their first visit to India. Beatriz is a Flamenco dancer while Enrique is a writer and Professor too. “We are part of the International Story Telling Network which has 490 members from 15 countries. The network has marked June 21 as the World story telling Day” says Beatriz, enacting the Spanish story of the ‘Whimsical Prince' for the students. “It is a wonderful experience being in India and knowing about the stories here. Every country has different stories and tales”
“Even regions differ in their stories. Once when Kathalaya visited the Santali tribes in Orissa, we were surprised to know that the fox is depicted as the friendliest animal in their folk tales. Whereas, ‘cunning fox' is what we have heard” says Geeta. “Stories also tell about the belief of the place and people.” Beatriz and Geeta believe in enriching story telling by exchanging stories from different parts of the world. They are also coming up with a bilingual book together, titled ‘Two World' that will contain 10 stories each from Spain and India. “It will have illustrations and also guide sheet for teachers on how to present them in the class. The target audiences are children below eight years” says, Geeta.
‘The secrets of story telling' is another book by Beatriz in Spanish and set to be translated in English. “Story telling must start from early childhood so that it makes the child more receptive. In Spain, children are more adults but Indian kids are more participative and innocent” feels Beatriz. She also runs a recorded story telling programme on TV for kids in Spain.
“Writing and story telling are interlinked. There are many researches going on story telling and the ways to tap its benefits. Only if one is able to nicely narrate a story, he/she will be able to write well” says Enrique. He has penned over 50 books. “To become a good writer, one should read and write regularly. Diary writing is a great way to become a writer and reading a page or two on an everyday basis will help a lot” he says, “After my first book, I revised it 29 times and even now I end up revising seven to eight times. Before starting to write, you should have the characters, setting, plot and course of the story and the mode of narration ready.”
Though vocal sounds, facial expressions and body language sumit up , sometimes, props are also used to make the session lively. And on the relevance of story telling for higher schools students, Geeta says, “There are schools which have taken the sessions to Class XII also.” But Beatriz says that performances are more for adults in Spain. Likewise, while most of the Western countries also record and digitalize story telling, Geeta feels, direct contact with the audience is necessary for complete impact. “Too much of digitalizing makes story telling lose its charm” she says.
Kathalaya has introduced weekly story telling periods in schools across Bangalore. “Story telling was very much a part of Indian tradition. But these days, even the grandparents are busy watching TV and stories have taken a back seat. We at Kathalaya, experiment and chart out new ways of including story telling in the curriculum” says Geeta, “We go on a contract with schools and even give training to teachers on how to integrate concepts and stories. Many schools have successfully adopted story telling as a medium for science, history and even mathematics.”
Apart from this, Kathalaya also conducts shadow play workshops in various institutions. “Stories improve the vocabulary, diction and listening capacity among students. There is good demand for Indian stories and story tellers in other countries. Many European schools take up story telling as part of value education and cultural base programmes” says Geeta.

miércoles, 14 de septiembre de 2011

Reportaje en el periodico The Hindu : Once upon a story-time (India)

Return to frontpage

Once upon a story-time

CATHERINE RHEA ROY
SHARE  ·   PRINT   ·   T+  
Story teller Beatriz telling stories to children.Photo: G.P. Sampath Kumar.
The HinduStory teller Beatriz telling stories to children.Photo: G.P. Sampath Kumar.
PEOPLE Beatriz and Enrique from Spain tell CATHERINE RHEA ROY how seriously storytelling is being taken in their country
You are a grown up and much too old to enjoy story-time, but the job demands you sit cross-legged on the floor, fighting a cramp and watch a Spanish lady prance around you and narrate the story of a whimsical prince. You are not too old anymore and wish you could have someone at your bedside every night and rock you to sleep as they begin, “Once upon a time…”
Brought in from Spain by Kathalaya Trust, an organisation that specialises and teaches the art of story telling, story tellers Beatriz and Enrique were performing an exclusive at Easylib (www.easylib.com), as a part of the library's literary initiative. The two are members of the International Storytelling Network and on their first visit to India.
The two have authored several books and while Beatriz is a flamenco dancer, Enrique also works as a professor of creative writing. “The foundation of story-telling is the same as creative writing, you need to believe in your story when you write it, similar belief is needed when you tell a story,” says Enrique who then paraphrases Oscar Wilde, “To write a good story you first need to have a good story. You need to know not just how to write but how to write a story and lastly you need to have a desire to write it. You must want to write it.”
Both of them have written for children and Beatriz agrees that the writing and storytelling can be complementary, “Being a good storyteller helped me write my stories but you need to know the narrative techniques of storytelling in order to pen it down in an interesting way for children to read.”
Enrique who has years of pedagogical experience in the subject says, “Knowing the techniques of writing and the varied components like view points of the story, setting of the tale, building up the characters and working with conflicts in the stories can help to both narrate and write the story better.”
Storytelling is fast becoming more than just a teaching experiment, but an accepted tool for teaching and teachers and can be measured by the phenomenal progress children make. Enrique says, “It is a great way to help improve their vocabulary and language, but it also develops their listening skills and their imagination.”
Beatriz who works with child development in the areas of toddlers and babies says, “Storytelling helps in the development of the brain specifically the neurons. It also helps with bonding emotionally with parents, teachers and peers, which is very essential at that age.”
The Spanish storytellers are rather popular back home in Spain, and Beatriz who also studies theatre has her own television programme for children. “Storytelling is part of the ongoing library activities and is included in educational programs in schools for babies and toddlers. But unlike Kathalaya in India, it is not part of the weekly storytelling sessions in school programs. Through the International Storytelling Network formed amongst countries around the world, the awareness for storytelling is growing and Spain now has more than 920 storytellers working in 46 countries around the world,” she explains.
India is also a part of this network represented by Geeta Ramanujan, the Executive Director of the Kathalaya Trust. While the two were in the city they also conducted workshops where Beatriz noticed that the attendees were very open minded and receptive to the whole concept. Enrique continues, “The children were very receptive to Spanish stories and they participated very eagerly as they sang along and clapped together. And at the workshop, the participants were very extremely sensitive and sensible about integrating storytelling into education.”
Beatriz feels that any added skill like dance and music can add value to the performance “Fusion between different arts like dance with storytelling or any other skill like music is the future, if you want to go ahead with storytelling as a performance art.”

Reportaje en el periodico The Hindu, India. September 12, 2011. Por Catherine Rhea Roy.

The Hindu : Life & Style / Society : Once upon a story-time