Singapore 1997
I attended a storytelling session featuring Beulah Candappa. I knew nothing about the oral tradition coming from a background as a social worker, then as a preschool Montessori directress, comfortable in reading to children and then as an early childhood educator.
Almost 20 years later, what did I remember of that first exposure to storytelling? Not the Asian stories (she grew up in Burma, now Myanmar) but her long dark hair, her compelling voice and that lift of that eyebrow. There was an aura of mysticism that she exuded.
A year later, the National Book Development Council of Sinagpore (NBDCS) invited Cathy Spagnoli and she opened up a whole new world for me.
Firstly, this American of Italian-German heritage, married to an Indian artist Shivam, introduced me to the folktales of my Indian heritage which I knew very little about then!
Secondly, discovering that she made a living out of storytelling! I remember thinking, “I’d like to do that!” But how? I roped in my good friend Sheila Wee (we’d gotten to know each other through our work in early childhood) and told her we had to bring Cathy back. Sheila was happy to join me and then we were very fortunate to have the support of Mr Ramachandran, the Director of the Book Council and together we organised and participated in the first 34 hour storyteller’s course in 1999 with Cathy teaching 16 hours (we had others doing children’s literature, voice, drama etc) with about 30 participants.
Cathy opened up to us the world of Asian folktales and we used her book Telling Tales from Asia as our text. Her other book Asian Tales and Tellers was the second storytelling book I was introduced to.
