Shantanu Gavai | reporter
The human brain is hard-wired for stories, a speaker at Pittsburg State who is known as a pioneer of his art says.
Bobby Norfolk shared his storytelling skills with students and faculty in a Black History Month performance at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 18, in the Governors Room of the Overman Student Center.
Norfolk has won three Emmy awards as the host of the CBS television show “Gator Tales,” and he hosted the Emmy-nominated series “Children’s Theater at Bobby’s House.”
“In this technological age, we have to invoke storytelling by spoken word through the printed page,” Norfolk said. “People need to start telling their personal stories and ask their grandparents about things that made them laugh and scared.”
Norfolk was a National Park Ranger at the Gateway Arch in St. Louis before he was inspired by the art of storytelling. He wanted to learn this art and had to retire in 1987 to focus completely on storytelling.
Norfolk interacted with the audience by telling them stories that they could relate to, such as “Three Little Pigs,” “The Creation,” and “Red Riding Hood.”
Noemi Hernandez, junior in recreation, says the performance was interesting.
“It definitely broadened my imagination when he spoke as I found storytelling to be much more entertaining than reading a book,” Hernandez said. “He used music and rhythm when he narrated a story, which was really interesting.”
Mattie Weck says she was also was glad to attend the event.
“It was truly memorable and a really good way of learning,” said Weck, freshman in elementary education. “Story-telling can be entertaining for any age, and I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would.”
Norfolk says that storytelling was a dying art until 1973, which was a period of Renaissance.
“About 10,000 people came to the national storytelling festival at that time, which encouraged me to talk about folk tales and fairy tales,” he said. “Today there are various styles of storytelling which would intrigue people and draw them into it.”
