The Storytelling Center, Inc. of New York City

Salutations!

Welcome to our humble home online, which, like our workshops, depends a good deal on your participation.

If you want to give us a hand (and we sincerely hope you will), you can use our online message page, or else you can simply e-mail us at storycenternyc@yahoo.com. You can send us your comments, inquiries, story news, performance information, recipes, hyperlinks to appropriate resources on the Web, and love letters. (Just keep the spam, virii, and worms to yourself. Thank you.)

Breaking News

May 6th, 2008:

The next Swap is happening on May 10th!

The New York Storytelling Center & The Countee Cullen Public Library
present

Family Tales — Real and Imagined

A Storytelling Swap about Families in honor of Mother's Day

Do you have a family story you'd like to share? Or a tale about family? Bring a story no longer than 10 minutes to share with other storytellers and story lovers. Folk tales, fairy tales, myths, and personal stories about family are all welcome.

Join us on Saturday, May 10th, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. at
the Countee Cullen Library in historic Harlem
104 West 136th Street (at Lenox Avenue), New York City
(take the 2 or 3 train to 135th Street)
Sign–up begins at 1:30 p.m.
Telling commences at 2:00 p.m.
(Light refreshments will be served)

Children and young people are encouraged to participate!
(They must be accompanied by an adult.)

Recent News

Left to right: Robin Bady, Peninnah Schram, and Jean Hale.

April 21st, 2008:

Story Swap at the 92nd Street Y

92nd Street Y — Buttenwieser Library
1395 Lexington Avenue (2nd Floor), New York City
Thursday, April 3, 2008, from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m.

The Storytelling Center hosted a fabulous swap on April 3rd at the 92nd Street Y, organized by Jean Hale and hosted by Peninnah Schram and Robin Bady. More than forty people came to tell and listen to stories… as wonderful and varied as New York itself.

The Colorado sisters in performance

The Colorado sisters perform before the 92nd Street Y audience.

To name a few:

Margaret Dawson told Hans Christian Andersen's story of a very proud tea pot who learned life's lessons; Elvira and Hortensia Colorado brought us deeply moving survival stories from women in Chiapas, Mexico; Regina Ress took us on a journey through a river and up and mountain in Costa Rica to bring the story of 9/11 to the Cabecar tribe; Donna Minkowitz had us laughing with her about a time she thought she was "educating" a Pakistani–NY taxi driver; and Mike Seliger regaled us with a funny — and painful — poem about the recently resigned ex–governor of New York.

The Center will be hosting more swaps, in a variety of neighborhoods and boroughs of NYC, in the coming months. Check back at the website for details!

Left to right: Donna Minkowitz, Regina Ress, Margaret Dawson, and Mike Seliger.

January 22nd, 2008:

The Center Brings Stories to the 2007 Partnership
for the Homeless Christmas Party

Regina Ress & Diego Carvajal

Regina Ress and Diego Carvajal.

Members of the storytelling community joined with the Storytelling Center at Price Waterhouse Cooper in midtown Manhattan on December 15, 2007 to entertain and delight listeners at a Christmas party organized by the Partnership for the Homeless.

This was the first year that we were asked to participate in this holiday party for families served by the Partnership. Robin Bady organized the storytelling sessions and Jimena Salinas assisted and kept the tellers lined up and ready to go. Thirteen tellers, new and seasoned, locals and not, all contributed stories in fifteen minute blocks. I was one of the new tellers at the event, and it was a great opportunity to try out two of my stories with an audience. We tellers competed with music, clowns, food, and general party chaos… not to mention the arrival of Santa Claus! Nonetheless, it was a joy to watch the children's faces as they listened within the storytelling cocoon set up for the event.

Thelma Thomas.

During the event, the weatherman "Mr. G," from WPIX–TV (a CW Network station), a co–sponsor of the event, commented with regret that he considered storytelling to be a dying art. The storytellers could all happily refute this idea with personal stories. Personally, I felt the role we played in this event speaks to the vibrancy and place that storytelling still occupies in our society. And I was glad to be one of many to show up and make our presence known.

The Partnership for the Homeless has asked us to return next year because they received so much positive feedback from parents and kids at the party. The Storytelling Center extends its thanks to the following tellers: Eileen Palley, Dianne Carr, Kirsten Cruzen, Kapila Love, Sarah Northshield, Mike Seliger, Diego Carvajal, Jean Hale, Thelma Thomas, Bob Reiser, Tammy Hall, Regina Ress, and Margaret Dawson. And, of course, to all the great story listeners who found their way into our circle.

Kirsten Cruzen.

Some of the revelers at the Partnership for the Homeless' 2007 Christmas Party

Some of the Storytellers and Story–listeners at the Partnership for the Homeless Chrismas Party, December 15, 2007.

Please remember: if you have some storytelling gigs coming up — or know of some quality storytelling–centric websites we should be hyperlinking — please let us know so we can list them here!

Would you like to read the 2007 news? Or look back at 2006?