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NYSS 2010 Event Front Page |
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The 2009 National Youth Storytelling Showcase proved to be another outstanding year of youth storytelling. After the last performance storyteller Donald Davis approached all the youth and exclaimed, "These youth are amazing! They just keep getting better and better year after year!" Andy Offutt Irwin stated, "I fear for my job as a storyteller...these youth tellers will be getting all of my gigs!" All 15 youth tellers were fabulous with a quality of telling that could keep any audience spellbound.
“Tomorrow’s storytelling” lies in the talents, interests, and motivations of today’s YOUTH. Skills learned during the early years are often more polished than those learned later in life. This event is designed to promote and encourage both the art and science of storytelling among pre-adult communicators. Although this endeavor does involve competition, its underlying intent is to provide students across the nation with a reason to practice numerous non-competitive communication skills.
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Each state has one representative who is in charge of handling theexperiences at the state level. Each state rep organizes theexperiences for his/her state, then nominates up to five young tellersfrom that state to be considered as a candidate for the NYSS. Thesevideotapes are mailed to the City of Pigeon Forge, TN before apre-determined time of each year. A national committeespends considerable time with these videotapes, and then narrows theNYSS finalists to 18 - 20. Thosefinalists are invited to the upcoming NYSS, which is a 3-day affairheld in conjunction with the Smoky Mountains Storytelling Festival,held in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee usually held the first weekend of February.
All of this leads to an evening NYSS storytelling concert, where eachof the young finalists tells one story. Then one “Special YouthStorytelling Torchbearer” will be declared in each of three age groupsand one tandem groups. Individuals in these age divisions will beselected not just for their storytelling talents but also for theirambassadorship abilities in the world of storytelling. One “GRANDStorytelling Torchbearer” is declared from ALL of the young finalists.
The goal of the NYSS is to encourage every classroom in America todiscover (or rediscover) the beauty and value of storytelling and storyperformance. All who work with young tellers should keep this goal inmind during all of the training and telling procedures.
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