As a storyteller, award winning solo performer, writer and trainer Danyah has been sharing oral stories professionally for over twenty-five years. She trained in drama, dance and English at Bretton Hall College and later studied at Lecoq in Paris.

Danyah has starred in five theatrical solo storytelling shows, three of which are award winning including, I Believe in Unicorns by Michael Morpurgo, which has been seen by over 80,000 people including two West End seasons. Oberon Books published the script of this play, co-written with director, Dani Parr.

For two years Danyah was the regular storyteller on BBC Three Counties Radio. She has adapted and recorded Frances Hodgson Burnett’s, The Secret Garden as part of a unique Story in a Box experience.

As a storytelling trainer Danyah works nationally in a range of settings, venues, festivals and onine. She was a workshop leader at The International School of Storytelling for over ten years.

Danyah co-produced three mid-scale musicals including Olivier nominated Soul Sister’ – the life and times of Ike and Tina Turner co-written and co-directed by John Miller.

Coming soon: The next book in this series Seven Secrets of Seasonal Storytelling and a theatrical solo show based on spontaneous storytelling, by the same creative team as I Believe in Unicorns. Click to follow the link to Danyah’s 2023 performances.

www.danyahmillerstoryteller.co.uk

You Tube, Facebook & Instagram: @danyahmillerstoryteller

The seeds of this story, and the seven secrets that lie within, were sown many years ago. As a young child I played around a neglected, bricked up windmill close to my parents’ home in York and around a tumbled cottage in the Yorkshire dales during the holidays. I spent days cloud watching, inventing stories in my imagination and collecting treasures for my father to turn into tales around the open fire.

For the majority of my childhood my brother and I were left to our own devises, to wander, play and imagine, as our self employed parents focused on managing their businesses. I was bored more often than I liked, but the benefit of this was that I had to dig deep into myself to find my own entertainment. Looking back, I’m grateful for this unscheduled, unhurried childhood which allowed my creative forces to emerge.

At school, teachers sent out of class on regular basis for being disruptive and talking too much. My friends considered me to be boisterous and my family called me a chatterbox. I was regularly told that I was ‘too much’ ‘over the top’ ‘exhausting’ and that I really needed to rein it in. I tried, oh how I tried, to ‘calm down’ and fit in, but my enthusiasm always geysered out somewhere, somehow. It was not until many years later that I came to understand what my soul had been trying to say, ‘I want to share stories, listen to stories, tell stories to anyone who will listen’.

When I meet wonderful ‘disruptive’ children, particularly in schools, I wonder if they also struggle with their inner storyteller, clown, comedian. My hope is that we are more tolerant of differences, different characters and different ways of learning, than when I was a child.

As a teenager I kept a diary. My entries were clumsy and repetitive, but this practice acted as a valve to let out the dizziness and pressures building up in my brain. I still write my pages on a daily basis, by contrast however, reading has always been a challenge.

Throughout my career in theatre and as a storyteller, I’ve experienced the most pleasure in the spoken word; improvising, devising, performing, teaching the art of oral storytelling. So it is of no surprise to me that spontaneous storytelling is my favourite genre of story.

I was first introduced to spontaneous storytelling by Alexander Mackenzie. Although I only met him once, I found him to be a generous and effervescent teacher and what he shared with me over a two-day course planted another seed. Four years later, whilst devising our theatre show adapted from Michael Morpurgo’s I Believe in Unicorns, we decided to include a three minute spontaneous story. It has been incredible, and at times terrifying, to open my heart and allow a spontaneous story to flow through me, at every performance, using key words chosen by each audience.

Although many participants of my courses, and audiences from my shows, have urged me to write about my work, I have always pushed it to the back of my mind, until, last year when I was knocked over and badly broke my shoulder. After my operation, reluctantly accepting my enforced rest, I listened to the quiet voice within, urging me to write the book which had been banging on my door for a long time. I negotiated with myself, agreeing that, only if my Arts Council England (ACE) Develop Your Creative Practice application was successful, would I begin writing. It is thanks to this ACE grant that you are reading these words now.

I am passionate about sharing stories and storytelling with families everywhere, having witnessed first-hand how stories can positively impact our lives. I’ve listened to an elective mute child speak in one of my sessions; a man who didn’t read until he was in his late twenties decided to go home and read to his son for the first time; a disparate group of thirteen-year-olds come together to share stories, half biographical and half fairy tale, interspersing these tales with their various first languages.

With speech and language needs rising by almost 10% in recent times, oral storytelling is a proven and practical method to improve language skills

    * Public Health England’s recent report, which includes many stark statistics, says

‘Early language development and communication skills are recognised as primary indicators of child wellbeing due to the link between language and other social, emotional and learning outcomes. Language contributes to a child’s ability to manage emotions and communicate feelings; to establish and maintain relationships; to think symbolically and to learn to read and write’

Sharing stories and story games can help strengthen our imaginations, develop verbal capability, improve our listening skills and encourage co-operation and collaboration.

What I love so much about spontaneous storytelling is that anyone can do it, anywhere and with any number of people. You don’t need to be an expert storyteller, have a good memory or even have time to prepare. All you need to do is to be present, then listen, connect, trust and have fun…

Storytelling games and activities are fun! And the bonus is that when we start playing a game, particularly a physical or humorous one, endorphins are produced that act on our brain to reduce pain and boost pleasure, resulting in a feeling of well-being.

It seems to me that we need this feeling of well-being and joy more than ever.

We are living in times of extraordinary change, the challenges and demands on us all are increasing. Parents are constantly bombarded with ways to entertain their children, to keep them busy and occupied. The time for children to play freely, to explore and to imagine is being eroded, the time for parents to rest and relax is diminishing.

Alongside free play, what I believe children need more than anything else is regular, relaxed and focused time with those whom they love and who love them. It is well documented that spending social time with our family and friends can boost confidence, improve mental health, and reduce loneliness.

I offer this story and these secrets to you as an anecdote to our fast-paced life, a homeopathic drop of pleasure for you to experience as a family, or as a school group.

I believe that sharing spontaneous stories, on a daily basis, is a simple, satisfying and successful way to reconnect with yourself and with each other. The story games included in this book will enable you to share stories easily and effortlessly, creating harmony, positivity and peace.

I offer this book to you, with love