by Rita Grimaldi
Last month I was privileged to do a presentation on
mask for the Indigenous Storytelling course at Trent University in Peterborough.
My masks came with me as well as materials to demonstrate how I make masks.
v The Body Follows The Face
After talking about the process of making masks, I
began to show pictures of myself performing in mask. As I talked about how the
body will follow the identity of the masked face. I said,
“Here
I am in a young girl mask. I am standing tall and straight in the stance of a
young girl.”
“And here I am in the mask of an old
woman, telling the story of Granny Shelock. See how I have the physicality of
an old woman.”
"And finally, here I am telling a Billy goat story and kicking up my goat heels.”
I was fascinated to see these pictures. I was
fascinated to see evidence that what I wanted to say to the students was really
true. The body follows the face. And if a mask transforms the face, the body
will align itself to the transformed face.
v The Mask Storytelling
I performed two stories. The first is a coyote story
that I have told so often that it is embedded in the history of my coyote mask.
Then, preparing to tell the story of Mother Bear and
her adopted human boy cub, I read from our four-week blog. After that I told
the story. My body filled with the energy of Mother Bear. And when the boy cub
spoke, it was filled with his fear and courage.
v What I Wanted To Share
With The Students
Along with the practical instruction of mask making, I
wanted to share the important message that working in mask is a form of
storytelling. It allows the self to become another - another of any age, of any
animal, of any degree of power and strength. I hope that some part of this
message came to the students. One said to me as I left, “That was a very good
presentation.”
v Postscript - Seeing The Student’s
Perform
Two weeks after my teaching session, I went to see the
students perform in mask. I was so pleased to see that all students had made
and decorated masks. The masks were painted to go with the stories they
performed.
There was a blue rabbit mask to transform the wearer
into a rabbit.
A gold mask with a spider web drawn on to it
transformed a young man into a supernatural being.
Perhaps my favorite masked beings were the young women
wearing simple deer masks. These masks were a simple beige colour and along
with the masks, the performers wore wristlets and anklets of beige fake-fur.
The deer movements were beautifully danced – so light on the feet – so light on
the ground – that even without sound the movements told us that these were real
dear going about the forest.
For me it was so fine to have contributed to the
production of these masks and thereby to the experience of these 19 students
transforming into other beings and animals.
January 14, 2015
Rita
can be contacted at peterboroughstorytellers@cogeco.ca
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