The Storytellers Guide to Australia

 

The Storyteller’s Guide to Australia is an umbrella title for a set of shows that vary according to a school’s curriculum focus.

Drawing from his wide repertoire of songs and stories, and with pre-planning with teachers, Jan configures the repertoire to suit your needs – mixing and matching to themes you request – be they political, historical, cultural or any other theme.

To discuss the possibilities, please ring (0417 332 065/ 03 5470 6629) or email

Four example themes/formats are:

 

Australia in a Suitcase

Jan has a suitcase of items collected on his Australian travels, and with each item there is a song or story, such as:

  • a photo of Jan’s refugee family for  a song of migration
  • a conch shell leads to the story of the origin of fire
  • a piece of quartz rock inspires a song of the gold rush
  • a miniature of Ned Kelly’s armour brings forth a bushranging song
  • a dog-spike from Jan’s youthful stint as a fettler on the Ghan railway line leads to a song about the Afghan cameleers

Anecdotes from Jan’s travels link the items, and students are invited to shape the show by choosing items themselves.


 

Jan’s Repertoire

Blackfellow – Whitefellow

Jan has a wide range of songs and stories about black and white Australia, including:

  • historical stories of first contact
  • traditional songs learnt from Indigenous friends
  • contemporary songs from events such as the 1966 Gurindji walk-off
  • excerpts from Jan’s theatre shows Whitefella Learns to Dance and Buckley: The Go-between
  • material from radio and television documentaries made with Indigenous people, and from Jan’s biography with Wardaman elder, Yidumduma Bill Harney.

 

Jan’s Repertoire 

Old Days, Old Ways

As is well-known, Jan was a founder of Australia’s most famous bush band, The Bushwackers, specializing in Australia’s folk repertoire of 18th, 19th and early 20th century Australia.

These songs, humorous recitations and vivid tales portray the lives of ordinary men and women, including:

  • convicts who lamented leaving home

  • people who tramped the country looking for work shearing, droving or fencing
  • bush people who took pride in their work and skills

 

  • families on the farm to face bushfire, flood and drought
  • the swagman’s delights of a peaceful billy of tea, by the river, with a fish on the line
  • the hangovers that followed a bushman’s spree, and all the quirky, funny tales that go with these times.

With these songs and stories Jan gives students a glimpse of these past times and people now long gone.

 Jan’s Repertoire

 

Community & Remembrance (In the land of the Long Weekend)

This format is devised to address the Year 3 National Curriculum History focus on Community & Remembrance.

Structuring the performance around a calendar of significant Australian holidays – such as New Year’s Day, Australia Day, Chinese New Year, Anzac Day, NAIDOC and Reconciliation Weeks, Harmony Week and Christmas – Jan sings songs and tells stories that explore the past and present together, that acknowledge our cultural diversity and unity and pay particular homage to the First Australians.

Jan also talks with students about how he researchers his material, hopefully inspiring them to investigate their own communities.

Students participate by singing, playing instruments and contributing their own thoughts and stories.

 

Jan’s Repertoire

 Practical Details: 

Curriculum: 

Primary Prep-Yr. 6: The various themes and titles in The Storyteller’s Guide to Australia covers many of the cultures and histories that have contributed to Australian society. The mix of archival and contemporary material invites comparisons between ‘then’ and ‘now’. Through Jan’s travel experiences students get a sense of other parts of Australia – traditions, environment, as well as key events in Australian history.

Regarding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history, Jan has considerable working and friendship experiences with Indigenous Australians, and whilst he does not speak on their behalf, he has a range of songs and stories to pass on to students, both personal and historical.

Secondary Yr. 9-10: The Storyteller’s Guide to Australia deals in ‘people stories’ associated with many events in Australia’s development, including:

  • Convict songs relating to European colonization and the impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders
  • Civil and political rights with songs about the Gurindji walk- off, and land rights dealt with through Jan’s stories of the hand back of Uluru
  • Diggers tales of the gold rushes
  • Trade unions from 1891
  • Songs and stories of World War I.
Format: 60 minutes plus questions/discussion.

 

Cost:  $4.50/student, with a minimum of $450/show. 10% discount for extra shows on same day. (Allowance for travel/accom. may apply in some locations.)

 

To discuss the possibilities, please ring (0417 332 065/ 03 5470 6629) or email