Invitation to anyone interested in the upcoming institute at East
Tennessee State University.

ETSU Summer, 2015 STORYTELLING INSTITUTE:
ACROSS THE BRIDGE OF IMAGINATION:
Traditional Storytelling and the Creative Mind
Guest Instructor: Shonaleigh Cumbers
“STOR 5830-010”

DATES: July 6-10, 2015
“Traditional stories are as relevant today as they have ever been: they are
humanity's most supple, sophisticated and incisive resources for uniting the
heart, mind, and senses.”
ABOUT SHONALEIGH: Shonaleigh Cumbers is a drut’syla, her grandmother’s
term for a traditional Jewish storyteller. The essence of this traditional
way of learning is to place the stories in an intricately woven imaginative
landscape in which all of the stories coexist and reinforce one another. With
over four thousand stories in her head, Shonaleigh has mastered the entire
drut'syla repertoire. By the age of 14 she had to know the Rabbinical cycles,
the Babylonian cycles, and a wide range of Yiddish and Hasidic story cycles.
This workshop offers a unique opportunity to study the basis for such
traditional learning and insight, starting with the Five Midrash, a series of
exercises in myth, imagination, and creativity. This five-day Institute is
the first of its kind on drut’syla storytelling methods in the United
States--an opportunity not to be missed. Please join us at East Tennessee
State University as we explore these ancient landscapes of traditional Jewish
storytelling.”
For more info contact: ETSU Storytelling - Storytel@etsu.edu - 423.439.7863