Storytelling is one of our oldest artforms.
It stimulates the imagination and builds a sense of community between tellers and listeners.
Stories are everywhere – in newspapers, books, on TV and the internet.
Everyday conversation is full of anecdotes and real life stories.
Storytelling helps us understand our environment and personal experience.
Many older stories are originally traditional folktales. They represent the richness of oral patterns of telling and are the product of a community experience, as well as the art of individual storytellers.
Historical stories, legends and contemporary stories can also be the subject of the storyteller’s tale, and they too embody a strong element of community or collective experience.
The emphasis of traditional storytelling is as much on the telling as the story itself.
Stories are recreated by the teller at each telling and passed on through generations.
True storytelling happens when the story is told person to person, live, without print or technology.
Nothing beats the experience of a live storytelling performance for bringing tales to life.
People of different ages, backgrounds and cultures can communicate through storytelling.
Storytelling is also a valuable tool in education, language development, therapy, and in building racial equality and religious respect.
Everyone is a storyteller, but some people choose to develop their storytelling skills to become a professional or community storyteller.
Scotland is home to a wonderfully rich and diverse network of storytellers with varied styles and repertoires.
The work of the storyteller ranges from entertainment, to leading projects with vulnerable groups or utilising storytelling skills in corporate environments to inspire organisations to tell their own story.
The renaissance of storytelling is indebted to tradition bearers who have generously shared their art. Storytelling is now reaching out to all age groups and sections of our society in new ways to celebrate our common humanity.
TRACS (Traditional Arts & Culture Scotland, SCIO SC043009) is a co-operative network which champions our shared traditions of music, song, storytelling, dance, crafts, customs and local languages. TRACS brings together the Traditional Music Forum (SCIO SC042867), the Scottish Storytelling Forum (SCIO SC052330) and the Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland (SCIO SC045085). Together we celebrate the local distinctiveness of Scotland’s places: our intangible cultural heritage. TRACS and the Forums have their registered office at the Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43-45 High Street, Edinburgh EH1 1SR. The Storytelling Centre is a partnership project between the Storytelling Forum and The Church of Scotland (SC011353).
