Category Archives: Storytelling

Li Chi Slays the Dragon — from Bodies Alive!

 

 

See the video: Li Chi Slays the Dragon from Bodies Alive! 

An ancient Chinese legend brought to life on painted bodies.

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Li Chi Slays the Dragon is one of the stories I tell most frequently. Mostly as a StoryFace, illustrating the tale on the face of one volunteer as I tell it, but, once upon a time, I had the chance to expand the story onto a cast of performers as a tale told with painted bodies. This video is from that performance at the Face and Body Art International Convention in 2008, as part of the Bodies Alive! show we presented there. I was joined in the painting by Christina Davison, Sara Glasgow, and Jennifer Wade, with help from some volunteers, and in performance by Blair Woodward, Cully Firmin, Rebecca Reil and Chloe Agostino. See my StoryFace version of Li Chi live at PIFA. Learn about the Bodies Alive Show. Learn about BodyStories.

My specific inspiration for how to take a legend like this and turn it into a sequence of images on painted bodies came from a puppet show I saw at the New Victory Theatre by Ping Chong, adapting to the stage Japanese ghost stories from the classic movie Kwaidan. Ping Chong’s stage design re-created a cinematic style, varying the size of the puppets and the perspective of the settings he placed them in to do closeups, or long shots or tracking shots, to tell the story sequentially — like in a movie.

The development process included sketches of the body designs which I scanned and then moved around in photoshop to create a rough storyboard, plus some color and design tests done in the course of my regular facepainting gigs. To help the performers understand the visuals that their painted bodies would create on stage, I sketched the designs onto T-shirts for them to wear during rehearsals. Included here are the studio photos taken at FABAIC by Rich Johnson, plus some of the other images created during the process, and since.

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Hero Tales! myths and legends

A special StoryFaces show featuring myths and legends — the original character building programs — to help us to become the hero in our own lives:

My favorite stories to tell to children are traditional hero tales, especially those that feature young or small protagonists, like Li Chi Slays the Dragon, the 2,000 year old tale from China about a brave maiden that saves her village, or Punia and the King

of the Sharks, a Hawaiian tale about a boy who battles a shark. The reason Punia is so brave is because he is small — which is a wonderful encouragement to give to kids, that even the small can be heroes, as in Aesop’s Fable The Lion and the Mouse. The origin tale of The Monkey King could be the plot of a modern superhero movie, with a misfit character that gains great powers and has to learn responsibility. In The Amazing Face, my original story, we see an audience member’s inner hero come to life on their own face. Adventure tales about heroes were the original character building programs and motivational speeches, passed down through generations to inspire listeners to reach for the stars and become the hero in their own lives.

from “Monkey King, Yo!”

Hero Tales! includes some of my favorite hero and adventure stories, presenting these traditional tales in the context of our comic book superhero movie culture. A wide variety of tales are available to suit the age range of your audience, including samurai adventure tales for older students.

 

Workshops — two related workshop programs are available: My Amazing StoryFace writing workshop and Creating Your Personal Superhero mask design workshop. See StoryFaces — Mask Arts Programs for descriptions and teacher’s guides.

 StoryFaces shows are a surprising combination of storytelling and visual arts that fully engages the entire audience.  

See the video: What Is A StoryFace?

Always new stories. Always exciting. As much fun for adults as for kids.

Learn about all we do at:  agostinoarts.com

Nov 9: StoryFaces at the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts

from the Bethel Woods website:

STORY FACES

WORLD STAGE SERIES

Bethel Woods is excited to host this intriguing, interactive performance!  Catering to family audiences, Christopher Agostino shares discoveries from his 30-year adventure in theatre, storytelling, and painting faces. Audience volunteers are brought on stage and face painted to illustrate the stories as he tells them, fully engaging the audience with a skillful spoken word performance combined with his unique visual art.  After the performance, Agostino will lead two face painting demonstrations/workshops for kids where additional participants can get their faces painted.  For more information about this show, go to Christopher Agostino’s official website

The World Stage Series presents music and performing arts from around the world with the goal of promoting respect for diversity and an appreciation of the arts in all audiences. World Stage Series performances are available for school audiences on school days and for youth, families, and the community on weekend days.

Bethel Woods’ Educational and Children’s programming is supported by Annelise Gerry and Family and the Rhulen/Loughlin Family – In Memory of Trevor John Loughlin.  Transportation, admission, and scholarships provided in part by TD Charitable Foundation and First Niagara Foundation.

Buy Tickets

  • Nov 9 , 2014
  • Event Gallery
  • 1:30 PM Doors Open
    2:00 PM Show Time
  • View Seating Chart
  • FREE – tickets required
  • Sign-up for a free after-show workshop by email at education@bethelwoodscenter.org.
    (max. capacity for each workshop 18 people – two workshops available)
  • Buy Tickets Now

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See the new video: What is a StoryFace?

 

I am a painter and a storyteller, and this is how I tell my stories.
Learn more at http://agostinoarts.com/StoryFaces
Christopher Agostino’s StoryFaces

learn about all we do at: agostinoarts.com

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