Sunday, March 9, 2014

Narrative Voices - A Call to Action



Narrative voices  are a varied group; from photos, novels, plays and dances, they are all created to give the author an opportunity to create a relationship with its audience.   For me these days, when I need a quick pick me up, I will often find myself perusing Ted Talks looking to be inspired, moved -  or even just entertained.   Today, at the recommendation of a friend, I watched Maysoon Zayid's   Ted Talk and was not disappointed.  In this presentation she woke me up to something I had not given a lot of thought to before, and she did this by making me listen.  How did she do that?

In Prinsloo et al's chapter "Mining the Depths: Performing Stories of Homes and Homelessness" in  Creative Arts and Interdisciplinary Practice, the authors discuss deep listening as the way to really hear a persons story.   Downloading and factual listening are the most common levels of listening, as we often fall into a pattern of a) not really listening, being too busy developing our response (downloading) or b) we open ourselves up to the information coming to us, to compare it to what we already believe (factual).   But to have a deeper more meaningful exchanges we must move to empathetic and generative listening.  Zayid takes us through all these levels effectively, to the point that I found myself tearing up at the end, (okay, for those that know me, tears for me are  pretty much a given)  but that aside, it seems fairly easy to get people to listen in the first two ways, but how do we develop empathetic and generative listening?

Zayid's presentation evoked these final two stages of listening from me by using her own experiences in a comedic way.  By using comedy she relaxes the audience, creating reception.  She elicits not sympathy, but empathy by being not just someone with cerebral palsy, but with a selection of 'disadvantages' creating connection with a wider audience.  Visually she stirs her audience as well.  Immediately calling attention to her jerking motions she bonds with the audience - you almost feel like a friend she's sharing with.   She uses this connection to then generate a new thought process.  Her cry for increased representation of disabled actors to get the roles depicting their disability  is heard.  I want to see a paraplegic taking the roles given to actors.  Why did Tom Cruise represent Ron Kovic in Fourth of July, or more currently why is Kevin McHale playing paraplegic Artie Abrams in Glee?  I find myself wondering if these role really went to the best actors, or just to the most convenient one.  If I had not watched her talk today I would not given a second thought to whether or not there are qualified handicapped actors out there.

Similar to her call to action is the premise of Prinsloo's chapter about  training homeless people to present their version of the  play The Lower Depths by Maxim Gorky.  Until now I didn't know this play, but a quick search provides a brief synopsis  explaining that the characters are the 'derelicts of society'.  Using homeless people to present these characters offers the validity that Zayid is suggesting, but more than that, it provides the people an opportunity to tell their story, as only they can.



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