Storytelling the best job yet for Edmonton woman

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Sitting on hay bales in the sunny backyard of historic Firkins House at Fort Edmonton Park, about a dozen children and their parents enjoyed the lively stories of days gone by.

Denise Miller told Native legends "from here and there" at the Storytelling Festival during the September long weekend.

Her family stories are full of energy, sound and grimaces. She jumps around, bangs her drum and is all over the place, her body expressing happiness, fear, pain, or joy. She lives it; she sees it.

"In my mind, I'm seeing a movie and I'm telling what I see."

Miller also sang a ballad about a gypsy family. She said gypsies remind her of Native people because they both live a nomadic life.

Even though her only language is English, she tries to learn a variety of words in as many Native languages as she comes across. And every performance she starts with a Cherokee song of welcome.

A full-time storyteller since April, Miller said she started her telling experience about 15 years ago when she worked with children on John Janzen Nature Centre's field trips. She told stories to kids and noticed their enjoyment. Later on, she took a few courses with the local professional storytellers. Gradually she told more stories and quit all the other jobs she had.

She calls storytelling the "best job." When she has no bookings, she reads stories and does research for the new ones.

Miller's business of recreational and curriculum programming called Cygnet Consulting offers a variety of stories for different audience categories. Many of her stories are about voyagers and the fur trade, which fit very well with the Grade 3, 4, and 5 Alberta curriculum, she said. She also has stories for younger children, as well as teenagers. Her stories for grown-ups are a lot more sentimental and sensual, she said.

Miller lives with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), which-she said-actually helps her in storytelling. She has the ability to see the whole vivid picture, smell and feel the details because she considers them all important. Five years ago, her son (now 14) was diagnosed with ADD and Miller read a lot about the disorder. That's when she understood why she had trouble concentrating on one subject at school.

She said she used to feel like an ugly duckling, not belonging to the society. "Finding my own spirituality, being able to research, and telling stories" makes her feel accepted, she said. The name of her business-Cygnet-means baby swan and symbolizes her own transformation.

September 28 is the Storytelling Festival in Calgary where Miller will tell her stories at the Heritage Park Historical Village. Coming up on Nov. 2 and 3, Miller will perform at the Ottawa Storytelling Festival that will take place in the National Library in Ottawa. She will tell two categories of stories: a family set, and an adult set called "healing stories," which "have a bit more of a touching nature that children wouldn't understand." For more information about these and other events, or for bookings, Miller can be contacted at (780) 905-7404.