Following What Fascinates Her

by Taryn

When Almeta Whitis takes the stage, people of all ages and walks of life quiet themselves and listen and watch attentively. With each performance, she delivers simple universal truths with her soothing voice, deliberately paced speech, and poignant gestures. Using song and chant, and drawing on oral traditions from her ancestral roots--African, Native American Cherokee, Rom or "Gypsy," and European--she helps to preserve the ancient art of storytelling.

But one can't sum up who she is simply by calling her a storyteller--not by far. In her career, she has worked as an actress, a director, dancer, choreographer, stage and television producer, a high school teacher, minister, counselor, motivational speaker--you name it and the woman has probably been involved. She has been called a Cultural Heritage Specialist; others insist that she is a performer and educator. She holds a degree in Development Planning, and is the founder and director of Chanticleer Productions and Inner Voice Theatre, an arts-in-education consulting company. Yet if you ask her how she describes herself, she will say something like this: "I believe that, in this lifetime, I have been gifted as a teacher, a priestess, and an artist, utilizing historical, cultural, and spiritual aspects in all projects that I undertake." That's more like it, eh crafty gals?!

"Storytelling is in my heart, my mind, my spirit, my very being...I feel humbled and thankful, for this I was created."

Almeta's organization, which she founded in 1995, is named Chanticleer, which means "dawn." (If the word sounds familiar, it may bring to mind the image of a rooster, which is correct--in storytelling circles, the rooster is known for calling back the dawn each day.) Through it, she develops storytelling programs, residencies, and workshops for school districts, theatre programs, and other educational organizations.

The motto written on her business card is "Follow What Fascinates You!" the title of a story she heard told by feminist storyteller, Susan Orr at the Scottsdale Arts Festival. In the story, Almeta shared with me, Susan presented "a pantheon of historical women and their achievements. She explained to the audience that in order to create or construct anything of lasting beauty and permanence, we must all rediscover the passion that fuels our lives and follow what fascinates us."

Storytelling is something that fascinated Almeta from a very early age. "I first became enamored with stories told to me by my mother, Mrs. Emma Whitis. Once I attended school, I would learn the stories told to me each day in order to take them home and share them with my younger sisters and brother. I quickly learned that I could use stories to make friends, as we moved around quite a bit." She also learned that stories heal. In developing and teaching her craft, she has learned to "help participants create a safe, sacred space for sharing with one another, a space that has always existed for the release of healing creative energies."

In 1996, Almeta worked with high school students in using stories and ritual theatre for a yearlong visual art project designed to end racial violence there. She was commissioned to facilitate a weeklong residency of theater, music, dance, and cross-cultural communication workshops, and direct a Performing Arts Ritual production for the stage and video. The video includes performances and visual artwork, as well as student statements about the project and "the real change effected in their personal beliefs and the community as a whole."

Over and over again, Almeta has watched the process of storytelling "bring the fragments of [people's] lives and relationships, both personal and professional, into focus, as they learn how to integrate their body, mind, and spirit in order to live richer, fuller lives...finding their own individual inner balance."

Storytelling also preserves our cultural and spiritual heritage. Respecting the past connects us with the present and also brings us closer together. Several years ago, Almeta worked as Lead Artist on a project with students called "Telling Our Story--Northeast Rochester, 1950-1970." It involved a photography exhibit of community people, a literary manuscript, and culminating ritual performance art piece celebrating the life of Mrs. Mildred Johnson, a longtime community activist.

"To honor the spirit within each other is the highest form of worship. We are kin to each other."

Recently, she and musician Allen Hopkins presented workshops for elementary and middle schools based on the life and works of Phyllis Wheatley--the African-American who was America's first published woman poet. Through her work, Almeta explains that she "endeavors to touch the heart and the spirit in ways that are common to us all--a common ground place that transcends the divisions and separations that we create in our minds."

No matter who you are, or what time you live in, it is very challenging to "follow what fascinates you." Almeta found that her path led to storytelling: "Storytelling is in my heart, my mind, my spirit, my very being...I feel humbled and thankful, for this I was created." For you, it could be something else, and it may take a while to discover. But finding the courage to be our creative selves is always difficult and many times we are our own greatest barrier.

Almeta admits this is true for her as well: "Any struggle that I experience comes when I am judging myself by my perfectionist standards and find myself wanting. Once I become aware of who I really am and understand that I am beloved just by being me, then I can get out of the way and allow the spirit of Divine Oneness to shine forth."

She continues to believe that it is always worthwhile to find your bliss: "Ben Franklin once said that 'Those who would give up part of their liberty for security, deserve neither.' ...Over the years, I have held many jobs and today what I know is that the work that I choose today is what fulfills me. Money cannot buy that kind of satisfaction."

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