Romer YPunto: Oral storytellers offer empathy, something that screens cannot provide.

▲ Technology is a challenge, not an enemy, said the Venezuelan improviser. Photo courtesy of the artist

Eirinet Gómez

La Jornada Newspaper, Tuesday, May 13, 2025, p. 5

In the face of the advancement of technological tools, oral storytellers have a special place because we offer something that screens cannot provide: listening, a direct look, the empathy that is born in a live show, where children and their families participate, imagine and play together , stated Romer YPunto, who in 2025 celebrates 25 years of having begun his journey as a storyteller.

In an interview with La Jornada, the narrator and improviser explained that he does not see the advance of new technologies as an enemy, but as a challenge: we do not have to fight with them, on the contrary: offer ourselves as an option, an alternative, where the central axis is the purposeful and free play, where they are not asked to do something, but simply to be children .

Romer YPunto is of Venezuelan origin and began storytelling after receiving reports at school for talking too much. At that time, an uncle introduced him to books and sparked his interest in sharing what he read. He has lived in Mexico for the past five years, where he continues to share stories with children.

In my show, people can play, sing, and get up; we engage in collective play. Play is the gateway to stories, and there's always an interactive possibility. It's not a performance that you passively watch as an audience.

His storytelling journey has taken him to more than 13 countries and has led him to face circumstances that have shaped his understanding of the world. One of these events occurred the first time he attended the Calacas Fair, held in Mexico City in November.

"I found their relationship with death very interesting: their respect for it, the family moments surrounding it. That led me to create a children's play, but without resorting to legends; instead, I tell them about my deceased and the people I've lost."

“In Venezuela, the traditional costume is called liquiliqui. So I made a play on words between liquiliqui and the skeleton: 'this crazy crazy skeleton with the liquiliqui,' something very interesting.”

Romer YPunto believes that one of the most significant changes he's noticed among children in two and a half decades is the shortening of attention spans. "We need engaging offerings that sustain their interest despite the stimuli around them. It's been interesting—and even entertaining—to adapt to children's needs, listen to them, and find out what stories are on their minds."

Regarding the themes of her stories, she maintained that the most important thing is to listen to the children: "I like to ask them what worries them, how they solve their problems. Often, as adults, we want to protect them, and we say, 'No, I don't want them to know,' but they know more than we think.

“At home, there are uncomfortable questions that generate debate, that get us reading; having uncomfortable things happen in a stage setting helps us let go and say, 'Oh, of course, this can be resolved this way.' The important thing in stories is that they end well without leaving aside emotions like sadness, anger, or fear.”

Among her collaborations, she highlighted her work with Alas y Raíces, the Fondo de Cultura Económica, and the opportunity to interact with other storytellers such as Norma Torres and Lidia Zaragoza. She also mentioned the Cine a Mano project by artist Arturo López.

Romer has the idea of ​​working with a children's and youth symphony orchestra to dismantle the idea that classical music should be confined to a theater or only for those who understand it. I'd like to bring it to public spaces .