'The oral tradition of storytelling is alive and kicking. There is no point in arguing whether it is the oldest form of narrative, it is as it is contemporary; the challenge is to demystify its archaic stereotype while making its presence in performance.' (Vayu Naidu)
Vayu Naidu Company, South (2002)
Directed by Chris Banfield
Vayu Naidu is a performance storyteller ‘committed to the renaissance of storytelling as a performative art within contemporary culture’. The Vayu Naidu Company is a touring independent Storytelling Theatre based in Canterbury, South East England.
Vayu was born in Delhi. After studying in India and the USA Vayu took Europe's first doctorate in performance storytelling from the University of Leeds in 1994. Vayu is founder and Artistic Director of Brumhalata Intercultural Storytelling Company, based in Birmingham, which has collaborated with a range of artists, including - in 1997 Parting Company, celebrating 50 years of Indian independence, with composer Judith Weir, tabla player Sarvar Sabri and the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group.
Vayu Naidu Company, South (2002)
Directed by Chris Banfield
Vayu's short stories include Cultures of Silence (Virage 1994) and Twisted Tales (Star Publications 1997). Her children's stories Biswas is Born and Biswas has a Hump (Harper Collins 1992) are now an animated film for Channel 4 learning. Her regional folktales for Turlink Publishers, Chennai, include Eyes on the Peacock's Tail, The Magic Vessels, Curly Dog's Tail and Hiss! Don't Bite. Her text, Storytelling and the Healing Art of Narrative: The Empty Vessel (Jessica Kingsley 1999), centres on the significance of storytelling in multicultural education, therapy, performance arts, battered women's shelters and prisons, where she has worked sharing her skills. Vayu Naidu's new play, There Comes a Karma, was selected for Radio 4's Chasing the Rainbow series. She writes for the Leicester Haymarket Theatre, where she is Artistic Associate.
The Vayu Naidu Company's website is at [link]. For more information on Vayu Naidu and The Vayu Naidu Company on the Collaboratory, please go to Gabriella Giannachi introduces Vayu Naidu.
Brutality and Beatitude - The essence of performance Storytelling: A Presence Workshop
On 22 March 2006, Vayu conducted a workshop and participatory lecture for The Presence Project, focusing on definitions of Storytelling, including an exploration of its anatomy and the emotive intention-movement-word as a process of telling, derived from a South Asian traditions. From this page you can access the evolving documentation of this workshop and our subsequent conversation with Vayu. Please go to:
- The Presence Project interviews Vayu Naidu
Vayu Naidu Company, South (2002)
Directed by Chris Banfield
Images courtesy The Vayu Naidu Company.
