Testimonials of 2011

"Bringing the myth to life." Michael Harvey 

"Amari has given me so much. It's opened the door into storytelling and shown me how to step through. It's planted the sound of sheep bells and the blue of the mountains right in the middle of my heart." Nicola Davies

"I felt the breath of inspiration and found the beating of my storytelling heart again, amongst other searching people, in the middle of this beautiful valley of Amari." Mia Verbeelen

"Inspiring storytelling workshop, nestled in the mountains of Crete that combines the learning with journeys that bring the Greek myths to life." Anne-Marie Harison

"This week has been a dream and a delight. We have been craddled by the Gods and pampered by Amari." Teresa Winchester

Michael Harvey: Mixing the Muses
Amari, Crete 1 - 8 June 2011
Having visited Amari several times (including twice as writer-in-residence) I travelled there in early June 2011 to participate in Mixing the Muses, a storytelling course run by master storyteller Michael Harvey at the Amari International Centre for Storytelling.  Eight of us arrived from U.K., Netherlands, and Belgium with a common passion for stories and a wide range of storytelling experience.  We made our way to the Hestia - the heart and hearth of the Storytelling Centre -  a low white-painted building in the small village of Amari at the centre of Crete. 

The first thing you notice when you arrive in Amari is that the valley and the surrounding mountains are achingly beautiful.  Olive and Cedar trees, pink oleander and a profusion of yellow and blue wild flowers fill your eyes.  Psiloritis (the highest mountain in Crete at 2,454 metres) stands to the north, still - in June - with patches of snow visible near the summit.  As if all this was not enough to gladden a storyteller's heart, the landscape is impregnated with stories of gods and men: Zeus himself, we were told, played on the mountain slopes as a boy and had his Golden Throne nearby at Ancient Syvritos.  

The Hestia is modest and comfortable with mostly shared accommodation and a communal kitchen and eating areas where our amazing local cook Maria plied us daily with Cretan delicacies and substantial meals of chicken, lamb, vegetables and salads - all local produce - and we drank organic red wine and raki made in the village. During the week we visited Pan's Cave high up on Psiloritis (with 4 x 4 off-road vehicles courtesy of the Mayor of the Valley of Amari - 26 villages); we climbed the hill at Syvritos with our local guide Ari to sit on Zeus's Golden Throne and to see where the pre-Olympian Goddess was worshipped, exploring the local flora and fauna as we went; and we drove to the dramatic Patsos Gorge to visit the cave where it is said that Hermes once lived, followed by a sociable Sunday lunch at the Taverna at the head of the gorge.

The brochure had promised: A practical course that brings together the sublime and the earthy in a celebration of the fullness of life, enriches one's unique individual voice and explores ways to increase the audience's engagement and response.  I'm delighted to say that it more than lived up to its word. 

Michael Harvey is a skilled and generous teacher as well as being an outstandingly good storyteller. He led us through a well-structured and progressive process that enabled each of us to work at our learning edges. The work was profound, subtle and hugely enjoyable.  All of us, from newcomer to professional storyteller, made great strides towards that elusive goal of finding our own unique and natural styles of performance.  We had all brought stories to work on that were untried and relatively new to us.  What we learned during the week enabled us to tell them with greater boldness, genuine wonder, authentic presence and a lively connection with the audience.

Michael complemented the storytelling sessions with an introduction to the Franklin Method: an easeful and non-strenuous form of bodywork that develops a more sensitive and embodied awareness of how our bodies actually want to move.  Like storytelling, the method requires the active use of imagination and visualization so that the internal gesture and the external movement become congruent.  I will certainly continue to use its techniques to prepare and warm-up for performances.

What makes a storytelling course in Amari unique - apart from excellent courses and superb teachers - is the whole experience of being there: drinking raki at the Taverna in the village square, walking in the hills, enjoying local food and wine, meeting the 106 year old man who planted the huge tree in the school courtyard when he was a child, enthusing with the Mayor about the economic and cultural benefits we bring as visitors as opposed to the casual tourists who occasionally pass through, telling stories in the landscape to which they belong.  I can think of no better place for a beginning storyteller to learn the basics or for an experienced storyteller to deepen, refresh and renew their craft.

As for me? It seems that I have become an honorary Cretan! The story I worked on during the course (The Widow Artemisia, a tale of life, love and gory death set in a Cretan Village 100 years ago) will form part of the programme of Cretan stories that Stella Kassimati and I will be telling at the Scottish International Storytelling Festival in Edinburgh and the Scottish Isles, 21-30 October 2011 (http://www.scottishstorytellingcentre.co.uk/).

Geoff Mead, PhD
Director, Centre for Narrative Leadership
(http://www.narrativeleadership.org/)
Writer, storyteller and executive committee member of the Friends of Amari
(http://www.friends-of-amari.org/)

Testimonials of 2010

"Friends of Amari is working to re-vitalise one of the most beautiful valleys in Crete by filling it with song, story and music, drawing people from many corners of the world and transforming them with the richness and depth of its own culture" Hugh Lupton 

"Thank you for a wonderful, inspiring week. The chance to work and live with other storytellers in this very special, nurturing environment is one I wouldn't have missed for the world. I'll definitely return for more!" David Ambrose

"This course in Amari was special. The work and Stella's vision and presence are warm and incredibly humane. I hesitate to mention how wonderful this stay is - it is not about making Amari another tourist destination. It would be wonderful to have a continued association" Gauri Raje

"This was not a course like any other - the design of it was so simple and the things that came out of it so rich and unexpected. A huge privilege to work with one of the world's best musicians as well as one of the world's best storytellers. A chance to learn how to root my stories in place, rhythm and experience. It will take me a while to realise what I've got from this course" Marion Leeper

"For me, the Amari experience, in a nutshell, was .... Gold" Annejet Rümke

"I have great admiration for Stella in her efforts to revitalise the Amari Valley through cultural and artistic exchange, and wish her every success" Liz McGowan

Going to Amari is a journey into timelessness, into a place where Gods still speak their own stories through rocky mountain vista's strewn with mighty weather mood changes. The stories simply ran through us!" Taprisha Seifert

"You arrived at the beginning of the week full of expectations. I left with a treasure, probably not the one I expected, but a treasure anyway. Grounded, calm, knowing I've got great stories to tell - not all of them mythical but none the less magical" Janneke Tanya

"Being in Amari on this course has been a challenging experience for me personally. It has helped me greatly to develop as a storytelling person" Mike Forbes

"One visit to Amari is just not enough" June M. Wells

"Open your ears to the cockerels at sunrise, open your eyes to the mountain of the Gods and experience the wonder of Amari!" Emily Parish

"A dreamer is dreaming a dream about Amari. It is such a good dream that the dreamer doesn't want to wake up. Perhaps when, at last the dreamer awakes, the dream will have come true..."Sharon Jacksties

"Learning in Amari is a unique and beautiful experience - you become part of a community inhabiting an ancient and mythic landscape. I feels like anything can happen" Bridget Cousins

Testimonials of 2008

"Amari is somehow the place held at the edge of my mind, that I always wanted to visit but knew not where it was. A true heart-destination and the starting point for the next stage of my life" Fiona Eadie

"Bernard Lievegoed's ideal ‘Create culture islands where people's souls can be nourished, healed' that is coming to being here in Amari" Taletta Bierens

"I came with an open mind, and left with an open heart, all senses nurtured and refreshed" Roisin Murray

"The biographical course and being in Amari was a heart warming experience of beauty and connection, of culture, magic, wonder, excitement, hospitality, sisterhood, brotherhood. I really felt a whole human being. It deeply touched my heart" Annejet Rümke

"A wonderful enriching experience in authentic Cretan time, beautifully facilitated from the heart" Wallace Murray

"Crete is a magic island of ancient beauty and stories. At Amari this is treasured and nurtured" Polly Ballantine

It strengthened me, moved me ... and made my heart sing with joy ...That there are places like Amari in the world and also that there are people with beautiful visions that invest their heart and manifest them!" Naamah Pinkerfeld

"Peace Love Amari. Amari the Place of the Speaking Wind" Michelle Solly

"You can get out of it and contribute to it according to your individual interests and talents" Jan Van der Weerd

«Τρεις βδομάδες στο Αμάρι
η ψυχή μου ανοίγει πάλι
και χορεύει πεντοζάλι
με'στου κόσμου την αγκάλη» Μαρία Παπαδογιάννη-Κουράντη

« Φως σε σκοτεινό αμπάρι
οι ιστορίες μας στ'Αμάρι
Φύγαν οι καρδιές μας πάλι
Απ'της κεφαλής την ζάλη» Μαρία Παπαδογιάννη-Κουράντη

Testimonials of 2006:

"Amari is simple, beautiful and untainted by the big world. A place to reconnect to ourselves and the earth."

"Abundant, delicious simplicity."

"Greek mythology was brought to life. To keep pace with the myths AND have a sensory experience eg. treading grapes. Simply wonderful."

"Storytelling in the land of the Gods, treading the grapes with Dionysus, exploring the cave of Pan, walking in the company of Hermes. We loved every minute of our time at Amari and nearly two years later still feel connected with this magical place as if by invisible multi-coloured silk strands!"
Geoff Mead

"Meeting the gods in their own landscapes, hearing and telling many stories, we shared and were content -- a week full of warmth, surprise and delight."
Kathleen van der Weerd

"Each time I return to Amari, I experience it in a different way. It is a place of infinite wonders for body and spirit."
Deirdre Stiles

Amari also inspires poerty:

The wild thyme stirs,
The goats stop to lift their heads.
Leaves rustle in the trees,
The light breeze of a longing heart
Spreads across the valley and surrounding mountains.
Spirits awaken from their slumber,
For it takes only one true seeker
to unlock the gate to other dimensions.
Always trust your truth.
Know it.
Breath it.
Live it.
Revel in it.
When you sing your song
you free yourself,
and you offer hope to others.

by Jo C