In an otherwise dark studio of Podium Mozaïek in Amsterdam-West, three floor lamps illuminate the stage where storyteller Irina Koriazova (28) rehearses for the Amsterdam Storytelling Festival. At that festival, in the first week of November, the art of storytelling is central. Koriazova rehearses alone, there is no director involved. Her eyes, her hands and her voice are her only instruments.
In a few days, the Russian-Dutch Koriazova will make her debut as an artist at the festival, where she previously only worked behind the scenes. But it’s not her first performance. She previously acted as a narrator at festivals such as Oerol, Boslab and Fringe.
Her love for storytelling started several years ago when a friend took her to Mezrab, the cultural story house on the Veemkade in Amsterdam. People from all over the world perform here on stage about 300 evenings a year. The first few times she mainly listened, later she tried something out herself at the open mic evenings. “That felt very vulnerable and terrifying,” she says. In the beginning she turned to stories that she felt more distant from, especially Russian folklore. Later she tried some more personal stories. At Mezrab she also met Sahand Sahebdivani, the founder of the cultural storytelling house and co-director of the Amsterdam Storytelling Festival since 2018. He told her about Mezrab’s storyteller training.
Alumnus
During that course she learned about story structure, body language and voice techniques. She is now an alumnus. And with her, six other former students of the course will perform at the Amsterdam Storytelling Festival. The theme this year is ‘liberation’, and dozens of other artists from home and abroad are programmed. The festival takes place in Podium Mozaïek in Amsterdam-West, which will be transformed into a Middle Eastern tea house for the occasion.
Founder of Mezrab Sahebdivani fled Iran with his parents at the age of three. Here in the Netherlands, his parents passed on the rich family history to him, according to the Persian storytelling tradition, which was a profound inspiration for him. In 2004 he opened the cultural center which he called Mezrab, Persian for ‘plectrum’. “It was initially intended to be a social meeting place for everyone from all over the world,” he says. In 2014, storytelling training was added at the same location.
“Storytelling is an art and you can also learn that art,” says Sahebdivani. Some storytellers have been telling the same stories for twenty years, but these stories are constantly evolving. “That is a different method than in theater, which often involves several months of intensive rehearsals. Storytelling is constantly subject to change.” He notes that the more traditional art disciplines usually have an established canon, while storytelling does not. Although the practice of storytelling dates back to myths and folklore, the contemporary form of storytelling often has a strongly personal character.
Scar
“A good story comes from a scar, not from an open wound,” says Sahebdivani. Koriazova took that wholeheartedly. It took years before she wanted to share her personal stories with an audience. In 2014, after the annexation of Crimea, she moved from Moscow to Amsterdam with her then boyfriend. Her boyfriend plays a major role in her story. “I would like to claim that I came to the Netherlands for myself, but in reality I did it for him. When I tell the story of my migration, he is always a part of it. That’s why I can’t erase him from my life,” she says in her performance.
In Boxes, the story she will tell at the festival, starts with her Russian mother saving boxes. Boxes, containing irons, for example, which she stores in the attic because they might come in handy later. Koriazova keeps her memories the way her mother keeps her boxes. But in those boxes, her memories feel scattered. And what if she runs out of space?
With notes spread across the floor, she tries to add chronology to her story for now. ‘Blame your mother‘ it says in large letters on a sheet of paper. But she hardly looks at it. She pauses during her story, taking the time to continue. Her story lasts about fifteen minutes.
Manageable and recognizable
Koriazova keeps her stage empty, after her rehearsal she says that there are also storytellers who work with instruments or an extensive set. “But often the best storytellers are just very good storytellers.” The performance does not have to be beautiful, but the story must be digestible and recognizable, which attracts many people to storytelling, she thinks. “Not everyone has a migration background, but many can identify with moving and finding themselves in a new environment.”
“In addition, when storytelling you really want to start a conversation, an entry point for dialogue.” According to her, this can almost have a therapeutic effect. “People are looking for connection, that is a timeless need,” she says as she prepares her lamps for the bus journey back home. “Storytelling is a way of doing this that is increasingly being discovered by people.”