Ariyo Zidni, also known as “Kak Aio”, is Indonesian storyteller with a unique voice and facial mannerism.

Founder of Ayo Dongeng Indonesia (Storytelling Community), Indonesia International Storytelling Festival, Gulali Festival (Art Performances Festival for Children), and The Nest (Storytelling Community for Adult).

Ariyo was drawn to the social healing aspect of storytelling since telling stories at hospitals in 1999, and now he is a children's story writer, storytelling coach, and lecturer on Children Literature Subject. 

Nawangwulan story is a traditional story usually known as Jaka Tarub and the 7 Angels, told on how Jaka Tarub snooped on 7 angels who took a bath on a small river and he would steal a scarf to make one of the beautiful angels his. 

However, in this story, we will delve into a different perspective on how one of the angels, Nawangwulan, felt trapped in an unfamiliar place, the Earth. We'd see what she might feel when she knew she couldn't come home and had to be a devoted wife of a human. We'll see the journey of this angel left on the Earth.

Putri is a storyteller who believes that story is one of the strongest weapons that mankind has ever created. She believes that a story can touch the heart and can turn a hater into a lover; a story can change a person and even a community. That's why she took Literature for her major in college and then, years later, turned her attention fully to craft and share stories and mix them with modern values like global warming and equality. 

About the story: 

This short biography of India's celebrated scientist and Nobel Prize winner Sir C.V. Raman is a testament to the power of curiosity and questioning. Ever since he was a child, Raman's mind was abuzz with thoughts about the universe and its beings. How did the roses get their colour? What made the violin produce its lilting music? Why is the sea blue? These were just some of the questions he incessantly wondered about. His childhood zeal to find scientific answers led him to do experiments, indulge in unending research, debunk existing beliefs, test his hypothesis, and not rest till he could validate the results. It is this unflinching quest to construct new knowledge that eventually led him to discover the 'Raman Effect'. This story unpacks the events in Raman's life that made him the first Asian to receive a Nobel Prize in any branch of science. 

Deeptha Vivekanand is a professional storyteller, trainer and educator. Deeptha turned to full-time storytelling in 2009 after a career in Corporate Learning & Development. Her interest in storytelling as a teaching-learning methodology also drew her to find her voice as a performance storyteller. Deeptha enjoys narrating personal stories, biographies, folktales, legends and myths from around the world.

Through her venture Ever After Learning, she conducts storytelling performances and workshops for young people and adults; she is frequently invited to speak on storytelling, offer story-coaching and consulting, and develop story-based content for educational institutions, corporate organisations and community initiatives. Deeptha has led storytelling workshops for Thoughtworks, Prestige Real Estate, INREM Foundation, Quest Alliance, L&T Infrastructure, ISB Mohali, NASSCOM & TiE Chandigarh. Deeptha is currently the Storytelling & Reading Lead at St Kabir Public School, Chandigarh, where she works to integrate storytelling into the curriculum across all grades, trains teachers to become story-educators, and oversees various literacy initiatives. She has also co-created an online training module titled 'Storytelling As Pedagogy' commissioned by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), the apex body of education in India.

ABOUT THE STORY: My story is an original development of an Armenian folktale entitled “The rose of immortality”. In the story, a king finds out that in the royal garden a rose may grow that can give him immortality but that rose has never grown so far. So he calls for all possible gardeners but no one is able to make that rose grow except for one gardener that takes care of it for three years during which the rose always grows but always somehow gets lost.

This story of care for something delicate and beautiful like a rose, something that is quite the opposite of the king’s view of the world immediately resonated with me and then I decided to add another layer to the story by adding the story of the unhappy queen, who has been abandoned by the king, which runs parallel with the story of the rose. However, in the third year, when the gardener is able to save the rose, the stories of the queen and of the rose meet in an unexpected ending.

ABOUT MYSELF I am an Italian storyteller and I particularly like to tell folktales from all over the world to promote understanding of other cultures and bridge gaps rather than walls between different people.

Stefania submitted a very powerful and concise endorsement of the mentorship programme which you can find on this page on the row relating to the 2022 Mentorships - Mentorships

The Moon Girl is a Byriat traditional folk tale. Byriats are a folk that live on the banks of the Baikal lake - the biggest lake in Asia, full of sweet water. It is one of the sunniest places in Russia. Stories have always played a significant role in Byriat culture. It's interesting that storytellers were highly appreciated - when men went hunting, they always took a storyteller with them. Byriats believed that stories brought good luck for hunters. And the storyteller got the same share of the meat as hunters!  

Byriat traditional tales never start with a simple "Once upon a time", but would always have a very poetic beginning with a lot of colourful details referring to the ancient times. 

Alla Lebedeva is a storyteller from Moscow. She adores stories and tells them to audience from 18 months to 100 years old. She performs with school and pre-school children and runs workshops for teachers, showing how to use stories to make school education both entertaining and informative. She uses a lot of games in her work, as she sees them the best way to enliven people. She believes that our souls talk through stories and telling our own story gives us answers to the most important questions. 

About the musician

The story is accompanied by a specific tune played on a traditional Byriat musical instrument. It is played by Natalya Chabannaya, a fantastic musician who plays a wide variety of musical instruments and who has devoted a big part of her life to Russian folk music. 

Juriah is a Singaporean, a bilingual teller equably comfortable telling in Bahasa Melayu and English. She is an active member of the Storytelling Association Singapore (SAS), and frequently conducts programmes in schools, libraries and for community organisations, as well as in the annual 398.2 Storytelling Festival, which is presented by SAS.

She writes: "Growing up, I loved reading and listening to stories but I never imagined that I would be a storyteller. Since starting my journey, I have learnt so much from the generous sharing of other storytellers. Being a storyteller has given me so much joy.

About the Story

I used to think that this story is just a folktale for children. When I was adapting the story, I visited the National Museum to look at the Singapore stone. I did my research and was intrigued to discover that there may be some elements of truth in the story.

I hope you enjoy the story and will be curious enough to find out more about Singapore’s history."

Ambujavalli is an IT professional turned storyteller - trainer and public speaker —residing in Chennai, India, strongly believes that good stories spread healthy happiness. She is known for the performance elements that she weaves into her stories. She is comfortably bilingual (English and Thamizh). 

Audiences (children and adults) love her energy, humour, and more importantly, her spontaneity.

About the story

This story came from an olio called Encounter Asia, a selection of personal stories shared by our members in the FEAST FEST 2021. Our members don't often share personal stories, so it's great that we get a chance to relive this highly entertaining tale a honey/money moon! By way of introduction, Ambuja writes:

Of the many travels in our lives, few are very special. The honeymoon trip being one of those. A romantic destination, comfortable travel, loving partner … All fine!

But what if there are only 10 rupees (approx 12 cents) in all to spend ? How would the experience be? Will it be a delight or a disaster? 

Listen to the personal experience of her most (un)expected honey moon trip and her realisation of one of the most important lessons of life!