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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
August 7, 2008:A Clearing in the Forest
LuAnn Adams, Bobby Gonzalez, and Bill Gordh will be telling stories — as part of this special family series inside Central Park — on select Sundays in August and September. The performances will take place within the Peter Jay Sharp Children's Glade, which you can reach inside the Park from West 103rd to West 106th Streets, New York City (enter the Park at West 106th Street). Check the Calendar for the dates!
July 26th, 2008:
For New York, with Love
Profesional Storytelling at NYU
Come to see and hear renowned storytellers bring a wide variety of styles and stories for children and adults to our new location… namely, New York University's Kimmel Center (Shorin Auditorium, Room 802) at 60 Washington Square South (at LaGuardia Place) in Manhattan. The first three dates are up and posted on our Calendar now. Be sure to bring the family!
Stories at the Statue — Schedule Change
Julie Della Torre and Jack McKeon will tell in place of Raouf Mama on August 30th.
Recent News
July 9th 2008:
A Midsummer Night's Swap at Manhattan Plaza
The Storytelling Center held a Midsummer Night's Swap at Manhattan Plaza on July 9th, 2008. What a great time we had! 14 stories were told — ranging from personal to fable to folk to fairy tales. Personal stories included a father appearing as a spirit, the exploits of a British Colonel, and traveling with a close and interesting friend. Folk, fable and fairy tales included "The Smiling Woman," "The 3 Sillies," "The Barking Mouse," "Wolf and Little Daughter," "Half Blanket," "The Truth about Truth," "The God of Losing Control," and "The Wrymouth Family." We were also treated to a rendition of "Frankie" (of "Frankie and Johnny," based on actual facts!).
It was the 10th anniversary of the monthly Manhattan Plaza Swap, and there was even a cake!
The event was hosted by Margaret Dawson (former Center Board Member and Organizer/Host of the Manhattan Plaza Swaps), who started off the festivities by lighting a candle and later blew the candle out as part of a story and to mark the end of the evening.
This swap was co–hosted by Joy Kelly Smith of the Storytelling Center.
The swaps at Manhattan Plaza are held regularly in the Ellington Room on the second Wednesday of the month at 7:30 and are open to all. The Storytelling Center was delighted to be part of their 10th anniversary celebration.
Most of the cast of CelebrateStory 2008, from left to right:
Len Cabral, Olivier Bernier, Melissa Heckler,
Diane Wolkstein, Joan Henry, Bill Harley, and Elisabeth Ellis. (Photo: Ari Ress.)
June 23rd, 2008:
CelebrateStory 2008
in Central Park
Thank You!
We all had a wonderful time at CelebrateStory 2008 in Central Park on June 22nd. And so we send our thanks to everyone who made it so wonderful! That includes all eight of our tellers — Olivier Bernier, James Braley, Len Cabral, Elisabeth Ellis, Bill Harley, Melissa Heckler, Joan Henry, and Diane Wolkstein — as well as all the volunteers, and everyone who merely came to Central Park for a grand day of stories — rain and shine! If you were there, you helped make it happen! And we thank you!
Tracy Wright and Bobaloo Basey (on guitar) serenade the audience.
A Delicious Afternoon of Sweets and Tales
Our annual dessert party had old and new friends of the Center turning out to tell, sing, and stuff ourselves with delicious chocolate cake and sangria. Held at longtime board member Marilyn Iarusso's loft — ecstatically filled with folk figurines and masks from Asia, Latin America, Africa and Europe — the party drew laughing storytellers on one of the hottest days of the year.
Kirsten Cruzen at the dessert table.
The June 8 event was dedicated to our beloved former board member Ben Jacobs, who is seriously ill and being cared for in a nursing home. Joy Kelly told us about meeting Ben for the first time and being struck by his extreme handsomeness. Bobaloo Basey and his wife Tracy Wright started things off with a rousing and funny traditional English song about a woman who robs the men who are trying to abduct her for sex. Ron O'Reilly told a funny and pithy tale about a woman seeking therapy, Diane Wolkstein told a beautiful story of how to find contentment in marriage, and Marilyn astounded all of us with a wonderful "gross—out" children's story about the Boogeywoman who likes to eat children's snot and ear wax.
Many other people told great stories. All of us listened, ate homemade chocolate chip cookies, acted silly beyond belief and… thought of Ben.
Diane Wolkstein offers a story about learning to be content.
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 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 and Diego Carvajal.
