“Michael’s coaching sessions are the storytelling equivalent of Jedi training.”
Our bodies are a target for marketing that makes us feel that we are not what we are meant to be. We are bombarded by body images in the media that are designed to make us feel inadequate and spend money on ‘fixing’ ourselves. Unfortunately this baggage can follow us around as we prepare and tell our stories. But not anymore!
What if I told you that your body is fine just as it is and the choice is not about improving your body but simply finding ways of having a better experience of being in your body and becoming more present, embodied, fluid and dynamic?
I’ve adapted exercises from some world -leading body-work practitioners and performers, including Eric Franklin, Miranda Tufnell, Eeva-Maria Mutka, Caryn McHose, Andrea Olsen, John Wright and Yoshi Oida. My aim is to give storytellers body-based tools to help you work with more fluidity, spontaneity, depth and joy.
Participant Feedback…
“In just two days your facilitation and teaching re-focussed my practice and moved me to the next level...Over these two days you led me to a far deeper understanding and appreciation of both where stories sit in my body and how my body and the stories work together in a telling...I loved that we were able to celebrate our individuality and our many and varied ways of telling a tale. You created a safe place to experiment, to be ourselves and to play – what a treat...I thought the course was excellent- a revelation in raising awareness of how we use our bodies and inspirational in helping participants think creatively about their storytelling. It was superbly facilitated to create an environment that was safe to experiment in and where participants could learn from each other...the course really enriched my understanding of what’s possible, and has also helped me to feel more grounded and embodied.” — course participants' feedback
Like many other people I got interested in bodywork after injuring myself. I was working as a performer in Cardiff and in the 80’s and 90’s Cardiff Lab, (later the Centre for Performance Research) held a series of annual intensive training workshops with leading theatre workers from all over the world. It was all happening at the end of my road and I did them all!
It was the Peking Opera that did for my back. I can still remember leaning over the bath to turn off the tap before giving my sore and battered body a good, restorative soak. Just as I began to straighten up I felt something deep in my lower back untether itself and it was years before I was standing up straight again.
For more information please email michael@michael-harvey.com
Ever since I injured myself overtraining several decades ago I have been looking for ways to be present and in flow on stage. My mistakes mean I can help you take the easier and more joyful road to bodywork that affirms you exactly as you are so you can turn up and be your genuine and compelling self when you tell your stories.
What you will get out of the the workshop…
Effective and straightforward ways of getting into flow with your body
Physical ease and confidence in your storytelling
Exercises that are pleasurable and empowering for you as a storyteller
The momentum and affirmation of a like-minded and positive group of people
Straighforward and actionable exercises that you can come back to again and again
Clear and doable protocols for your storytelling practice
Who am I working with right now…
I’m fortunate to have been able to use my body-based storytelling approach with a number of leading and emerging artitsts internationally. I met the multidisciplinary artist Shereen Saif a few years ago and directed her version of the the story of Ahalya from the Ramayana A Woman’s Mind which premiered just over a year ago in Bangalore and Mumbai.
Bevin Magama is based in Newport and hails from Zimbabwe. I helped him to get from script to embodied telling in front of a live audience in a few weeks and Bevin is looking to secure funding to present and tour the finished show that follows his journey from a childhood in apartheid Rhodesia, the broken promise of freedom in Zimbabwe and his journey to Wales as a refugee.
I directed Phil Okwedy’s show The Gods Are All Here with the storytelling production company Adverse Camber. The show went on a multi venue UK tour and, if you’re quick there are a couple of performances left in the current tour.
With my new storytelling company Bando, I have just finished a tour of the bilingual Welsh/English show Y Llyn based on the story of the Lady of the Lake in Myddfai, Carmarthenshire. I’m delighted to be working with two long-term collaborators once more - Stacey Blythe (musician) and Eeva-Maria Mutka (dancer). Pending a grant application, the show will be on tour next autumn.
“Michael is a dynamic and generous teacher. He’s transformed my storytelling performance and confidence in being grounded in the body while telling. Highly recommended!
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“I’ve been on my fair share of storytelling training, and often it can feel like the same small pool of storytelling exercises, passed back and forth endlessly between workshop leaders. Or else it’s a related field - clowning say - at which I learn a lot of new things, but have to spend quite some energy working out how to apply them to my own practice. Michael Harvey managed to straddle both arenas, providing exercises and a whole approach that was both new and radical to me, whilst ensuring everything was continuously relevant to the craft of performance storytelling.” — Tim Ralphs, storyteller
