Storyteller entertains with local tales
Shannon Slaughter
Issue date: 3/5/10 Section: Student Life
After being called a "humorous storyteller" in Milligan advertising, professional storyteller Rebecca Alexander decided to live up to expectations by telling some of her funniest stories.
"I'm not a comedian," Alexander said, "but I didn't want to disappoint anyone."
Alexander told stories last Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. in the Gregory Center.
She received her master's in storytelling from East Tennessee State University and has been telling stories professionally since 1994. Many of her stories are inspired by her experiences growing up with a big family on a dairy farm in Jonesborough, Tenn.
Some stories she told Tuesday recaptured her teenage years growing up with three sisters. Laughter from the crowd erupted after imagining Alexander tanning in the sun beside her sister who had glazed her hair with mayonnaise to tame wild curls.
"It isn't the story that makes people laugh," Alexander said. "People laugh because they relate to you and remember having similar experiences."
Dr. Bruce Montgomery, professor of communications, asked Alexander to tell her most frequently requested story, "Red."
"I wrote 'Red' just as I was getting out of college because I had been asked to story-tell at a local school. They needed a 'Tennessee' story," Alexander said. "I asked myself, 'What is my favorite thing about Tennessee? It is the red buds blooming in the spring,' and that's how my story began."
"Red" is the story of a young boy who is mentally challenged and looks very different from those around him. He is moved from one house to another until he finds a loving family that lives on a farm. In the end, Red dies and the family engraves their last name, Bud, on his headstone. Each year, red buds grow over his grave.
The theme of "Red" is stated clearly in the last line: "Christ wanted us to know that even the scraggliest of people are beautiful in God's eyes."
In the course of her career, Alexander has told stories to many people in many places. She has also studied under her favorite storyteller, Donald Davis, once in Ohio and once at his home in Ocracoke, N.C. These opportunities always give her new story ideas.
"Every story I write, if it is good, God has written it," Alexander said.
Alexander's stories made it clear that everyone is a storyteller because everyone has experiences they can share. Dr. Montgomery further discussed this idea when he said, "storytelling is communication."
"Stories have been around forever," Montgomery said. "We tell stories and don't even realize it. Storytelling comes out as a feeling and we do it communally."
"I'm not a comedian," Alexander said, "but I didn't want to disappoint anyone."
Alexander told stories last Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. in the Gregory Center.
She received her master's in storytelling from East Tennessee State University and has been telling stories professionally since 1994. Many of her stories are inspired by her experiences growing up with a big family on a dairy farm in Jonesborough, Tenn.
Some stories she told Tuesday recaptured her teenage years growing up with three sisters. Laughter from the crowd erupted after imagining Alexander tanning in the sun beside her sister who had glazed her hair with mayonnaise to tame wild curls.
"It isn't the story that makes people laugh," Alexander said. "People laugh because they relate to you and remember having similar experiences."
Dr. Bruce Montgomery, professor of communications, asked Alexander to tell her most frequently requested story, "Red."
"I wrote 'Red' just as I was getting out of college because I had been asked to story-tell at a local school. They needed a 'Tennessee' story," Alexander said. "I asked myself, 'What is my favorite thing about Tennessee? It is the red buds blooming in the spring,' and that's how my story began."
"Red" is the story of a young boy who is mentally challenged and looks very different from those around him. He is moved from one house to another until he finds a loving family that lives on a farm. In the end, Red dies and the family engraves their last name, Bud, on his headstone. Each year, red buds grow over his grave.
The theme of "Red" is stated clearly in the last line: "Christ wanted us to know that even the scraggliest of people are beautiful in God's eyes."
In the course of her career, Alexander has told stories to many people in many places. She has also studied under her favorite storyteller, Donald Davis, once in Ohio and once at his home in Ocracoke, N.C. These opportunities always give her new story ideas.
"Every story I write, if it is good, God has written it," Alexander said.
Alexander's stories made it clear that everyone is a storyteller because everyone has experiences they can share. Dr. Montgomery further discussed this idea when he said, "storytelling is communication."
"Stories have been around forever," Montgomery said. "We tell stories and don't even realize it. Storytelling comes out as a feeling and we do it communally."
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