Who's Who for 2010?
Festival Performers and Presenters
HEADLINER
Antonio Rocha Antonio Rocha, a native of Brazil, began his career in the performing arts in 1985. In 1988 he received a Partners of the Americas grant to come to the USA to perform and deepen his mime skills with Master Tony Montanaro. Since then he has earned a Summa Cum Laude Theater BA from USM (University of Southern Maine) and studied with Master Marcel Marceau. Mr. Rocha's unique solo shows of stories and mime have been performed from Singapore to Hawaii and many places in between including ten countries on five continents. Some of the venues include The Singapore Festival of the Arts, Aruba Intl Dance Festival, The National Storytelling Festival, The Kennedy Center, The Smithsonian Institution, The National Geographic, The Tales of Graz in Austria, Dunya Festival in Holland as well as many other Storytelling Festivals and educational institutions around The USA. Mr. Rocha is a member of the Maine Arts Commission, The New England Foundation for the Arts and the National Storytelling Association. www.storyinmotion.com
FEATURED PERFORMERS and PRESENTERS
Evan DeFrancesco
Having a mother who worked at a senior center, Evan grew up with one-hundred and forty grandparents! It was inevitable that he was going to hear a lot of stories! In the eighth grade, his English teacher, Jennie Munro, presented him with the opportunity to perform at the 27th Annual Connecticut Storytelling Festival. For the following five months, Jennie mentored him through the delicate art of storytelling that finally culminated into a standing ovation at the festival. Since then, he has performed at different Tellabrations and numerous private functions. Now a sophomore in high school, he is very excited and grateful to be back again at the festival! "Happily ever after is so once upon a time".
Peg Donovan
Peg Donovan has worked at the CT Storytelling Center for over 8 years as office administrator. She is now the Preschool Program Manager. "Ms Peg" has been telling stories in the preschool and elementary school setting for over 15 years. With a solid background in elementary education, children's theatre and creative dramatics, Peg's goal is to teach literacy by delighting preschoolers with stories, songs, poems, and puppets. Peg has also appeared in many local elementary schools, several middle and high schools. Libraries state wide invite Peg to tell for the summer reading program. Peg has conducted regional workshops for children's librarians. She is listed on the CT Commission on Culture & Tourism's Performing Artist Roster and has performed in several storytelling festivals including the CT Storytelling Festival, the Johnnycake Storytelling Festival, the Toronto Storytelling Festival and the RI Storytellers in Concert.
Carol Glynn is a writer, performer, and teaching artist. Author of Learning on Their Feet, published in the US and Australia, she conducts teacher seminars internationally. The Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism recognizes her as a Master Teacher and a HOTS schools artist. She has been awarded the Distinguished Residency Artist Award by the Connecticut Alliance for Arts Education. Working with students, teachers, touring teen troupes, at risk kids, and inmates, has deepened her belief that storytelling and the arts can be integrated into any topic. She lives with her family in Connecticut. www.carolglynnproductions.com
Bill Gordh is an author, musician, educator and storyteller. Bill is the Director of Expressive Arts at The Episcopal School in the City of New York, Director of the Summer Arts Institute at Manhattanville College, on the faculty at the Jacob Burns Media Lab, as well as an Adjunct Professor of Pastoral Theology at the General Theological Seminary. He is also an adjunct at the Graduate Program of Library and Information Studies at Queens College where he leads a story telling course. His books include Stories in Action: Interactive Tales and Learning Activities to Promote Early Literacy (Libraries Unlimited); Building a Children's Chapel: One Story at a Time (Church Publishing), and Want a Ride? (Random House) that has sold over 165,000 copies. He is a popular speaker and workshop leader at educational conferences throughout the country. He has performed with the New York Philharmonic, at the Gerald Ford Amphitheatre in Vail, CO, the Byzantine Fresco Chapel Museum in Houston, TX, the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, the Clearwater Festival and for three years was a featured storyteller at The White House Easter Egg Roll in Washington, DC. www.billgordh.com
Lorraine Hartin-Gelardi finds the experience of sharing stories through the spoken word to have a profound power to enlighten and educate. Her eclectic mix of tales enables her to tell stories to audiences, both young and old, at conferences, schools and festivals. Her workshops include Children's Voices, a storytelling residency in local schools as well as Listening to the Echoes, a story exploration workshop for adults. Lorraine particularly enjoys combining art and story in unique hands-on workshops for children and adults.
She is the author of Wisdom in the Telling: Finding Inspiration and Grace in Traditional Folktales and Myths Retold. www.Lorrainetells.com
Kathy Jarombek has been telling tales for over twenty-five years, in schools and libraries throughout lower Fairfield County and at numerous Tellabrations! Every October, she turns into the Old Crone of Riverside and frightens her audiences with her scary stories. A former school library media specialist, she is now Director of Youth Services at the Perrot Memorial Library in Old Greenwich, CT. She lives with her husband and two teenage children in Riverside, CT
Kiki Latimer, writer and storytelling coach, is a graduate of the University of Rhode Island with a degree in the Oral Interpretation of Literature. As a writer, poet, and photographer, her focus is often on the fascinating intersection of people, nature, and language. In coaching storytellers she brings one into the use of silence, darkness, minimal movement, and finding the heart and soul of story. She is the author of Islands of Hope and The WaterFire Duck. As chair person of Project Haiti, she brings the program of "The Harp, Haiti, and Hope" to community events. Kiki lives with her husband Jim in Hope Valley, Rhode Island, where she homeschooled her four children and now spends time with two grandchildren. www.kikilatimer.com
Named as "one of Rhode Island's most influential artists" by the Providence Phoenix, Carolyn Martino's unlimited energy and enthusiasm make stories come alive for children and adults of all ages. A favorite at schools and libraries, adult and senior gatherings, churches and temples, special events and festivals throughout New England, she also tours with her special holiday telling of The Nutcracker, and with Bella Notte, a program of traditional Italian tales for adults. Called "a true Rhode Island treasure," Carolyn embraces her audiences with warmth, humor and style.
Judy Petersen has been a media specialist in the Greenwich school system for 40 years, 37 of them at Central Middle School. She began telling stories 20 years ago. However, her favorite role is being a teacher of storytellers. Since 1998, she has incorporated Tellabration into the 6th grade public speaking unit; with the help of Central's language arts teachers, Judy has trained more than 1900 sixth graders in the art of storytelling. Judy has a Master of Arts in the Oral Tradition from Southern Connecticut State University.
Trained in theatre (BA) and education (Masters Degree in Special Education), Gail discovered storytelling more than 15 years ago - a deep and rich world of image and meaning that was personally healing for her. Unique as a consultant, storyteller, bereavement facilitator and educator, Gail crafts experiences that inspire laughter, reflection, and emotional release, supporting trust, connection, and resilience. Through story listening and storytelling, she creates settings where people can move forward on their life's journey, find their own wisdom and make meaning. With humor, honesty, intelligence and insight, her work serves people in grief support groups, retreats and memorial services, as well as training and support for those who work in hospice, pastoral care and related fields. Gail is the founder of the Healing Story Alliance, a special interest group of the National Storytelling Network. www.gailrosen.com
Rebecca Rule, The Moose of Humor, tells and gathers stories in Northern New England. She's on a mission to preserve and spread Yankee humor. She tells stories at libraries, historical societies, clubs, conferences: wherever folks gather to laugh and swap tales. Her collection The Best Revenge was named one of five "essential" NH books by New Hampshire Magazine. Other books include Could Have Been Worse: True Stories, Embellishments, and Outright Lies; and Live Free and Eat Pie: A Storyteller's Guide to New Hampshire. Her new book, The New Hampshire Dictionary and Gazetteer, will be published in 2010 by Islandport Press. www.mooseofhumor.com
Tony Toledo has been telling stories to pay his rent since 1990. Tony tells tales to elementary students, senior citizens and preschoolers, though usually not all at the same time. Tony also hosts SPEAK UP! Spoken Word Open Mike every Wednesday evening in Lynn, MA. Tony is 52 years old but reads at a 63 year old level. He and his wife live on their massive one tenth of an acre estate in Beverly, MA that has just enough room for her basil, his books and their Corn Museum. Tony Toledo likes stories more than peach pie and that's saying something. www.tonytoledo.com
Clare Vadeboncoeur
Clare is a story performer who loves telling stories to the young and the young at heart. She combines her talents as actor, dancer, mime & writer to give three-dimensional life to her work. She is a Trinity Rep Conservatory graduate with a Master's degree in Theatre & Dance. She is a Rhode Island certified teacher of dance, theatre and elementary education with over twenty years experience working with children. Clare's last name, Vadeboncoeur, directly translated from French, means,"Go with a good heart" which she tries to live by and has incorporated into her company's name "Good Heart Productions." www.goodheartpro.com
A student of Anne Izard's in the early 70's, Neva began telling stories under Anne's guidance in the Westchester Storytellers Guild. While a school librarian, she taught her students to tell as well. With Judy Greenfield she guided workshops for children with learning differences, as well as a year-long community-wide storytelling festival, and the founding of the Rye Storytellers Guild which she continues to lead in its 23rd year. Neva assisted in the development of the Anne Izard Storytellers Choice Award and has served many times on its committee. She is pleased to talk of Anne as a storytelling force.
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Connecticut Storytelling Center • in residence at Connecticut College • New London, Connecticut page last modified 22 January 2010 • webmaster: Rosalind Hinman |
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