At some time, all of us have been fascinated by the magic that shadows can create. Shadows can transform a simple arrangement of fingers into a bird, a sheet of cloth into a ghost, even a crumpled ball of paper can take the shape of an elephant’s head. Shadows give wings to our imagination, so it is just natural that they be used to accompany that other expression of imagination – stories. And that is exactly what Mumbai-based shadow artist and storyteller Rekha Vyas does.
Tell us about yourself and a bit about your work.
As a teacher by profession, I have been very curious to develop unique ways of teaching concepts to children. With a creative bend of mind, passion and a love for children, I started my own company PepUp (Imagine/Enjoy/Grow) on 11th Jan 2015. I find storytelling / drama based learning a very powerful medium to deliver any message. PepUp manufactures storytelling toys for children and conducts storytelling and puppetry workshops in schools, events and literature festivals.
What influenced you to become a storyteller?
The sheer joy on the faces of children inspired me to keep creating new stories to keep their excitement alive. I also felt that this was one of the exciting ways of getting them involved in the learning process and improve their emotional intelligence and imagination skills. The love and affection you get from children as a storyteller and puppeteer is the best reward.
Tell us more about the art of hand shadow art, and how you use it in storytelling.
You can create many fascinating stories using a creative magical blend of hand shadow art and shadow puppets.
I have created shadow stories with themes like aqua, jungle, halloween, mythological Ramayana and fairytales. My favorite story with hand shadow art says we are all connected in a great circle of life.
You are India’s first female hand shadow artist. Are there any challenges you have faced in this journey?
The biggest challenge was the lack of any formal training or availability of information. I have to find different ways of learning the art on my own through information available on net. Necessity pushed me to reach out to India’s famous hand shadow artist Mr.Prahlad Acharya. I was fortunate to get his blessings and support. However, no one else can do your part of the hard work. After spending full days of managing daily chores, I would spend nights writing stories, practicing to hone my skills.
How have the stories in your life influenced your style of storytelling and the way you place stories?
I was always fascinated by puppets and explored 11 kinds of puppetry used for storytelling. Bringing characters to life is exciting and fun. It engages children the most. I love to create my own stories and puppets keep it real for children. I also focus on the values I wants to inculcate in children while writing stories. I have even manufactured shadow storytelling kits for children available on Amazon.in as “Shadow Art Kit”.
Tell us more about the audiences you work with.
I usually work with schools and perform for similar age of children. Audiences at carnivals, events and festivals, have mixed age group.
However shadow stories and hand shadow art are always hit with any age group as it is a rare art form in India.
Any particular incident/anecdote from your sessions that you would like to share with readers?
Once a school invited me for shadow story session. Surprisingly there was no enclosed dark area to perform a shadow story. Thankfully, I usually carry my big bag full of puppets and stories with me. So I presented a ventriloquist act using arm puppets, a jungle story using string and hand puppets, and introduced them to the eleven kinds of puppetry used for storytelling. Teachers and children loved every bit of session.
Storytellers must always have a plan B with them when they set out to tell a story.
Do you feel storytelling can be adopted as a full-time profession? What tips would you give to someone who wants to get into this full-time?
Yes, it can. But be ready to do lots of hard work. Be resourceful and do not be shy to reach out to seek support. Be open to failure and learn from it.
Any suggestions to our readers how they can help in keeping stories alive?
Make stories that relate to your audience and not the one you want to tell, Take risk in creating stories and experiment with narrating them.
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Don’t Miss: We love storytellers as much as we love storytelling. On Tell-a-Tale, we’ve featured a lot of talented storytellers, in the past.
Are you a Storyteller? If you’re a storyteller who is actively pursuing storytelling and would like to be featured in this column, drop us a mail at contact AT tell-a-tale.com or reach out to us via Facebook.
