This Event is Best for Ages 18+
Hosted by Karen E. Griffin
What makes you swoon or gets your heart pumping? Delve into romantic or playful love stories that are personal, from folklore, or original.
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Performers
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First Kiss
Peter Cook is an Associate Professor, and Chair of ASL Department, Columbia College Chicago and an internationally known Deaf performing artist whose work incorporates American Sign Language, pantomime, storytelling, acting, and movement. Cook has an MA in Storytelling from East Tennessee State University (2011) and a BFA in Graphic Design from Rochester Institute of Technology (1986). Since 1986, Cook has traveled extensively, both nationally and internationally with Kenny Lerner, to promote the Flying Words Project and ASL literature. He appeared in the Alive from Off Center episode “Words in Your Face” and in “The United States of Poetry” (PBS), both of which were produced by Emmy-award winner Bob Holman. He also was featured performer for the ITV’s Signed Stories. Cook has been featured nationally in numerous festivals, including the National Storytelling Festival, Oklahoma City Winter Tales, Illinois Storytelling Festival, Indiana Hoosier Storytelling Festival, Tales of Gratz, Austria, International Poetry Festival, Rotterdam, Netherland, and the Millennium Stage at the Kennedy, D.C. In 2003, he was invited to the White House to join the National Book Festival. Internationally, Cook has worked with Deaf storytellers/poets in Northern Europe, Latvia Brazil, Israel, and Japan.
Zahra
Rebecca is Belgian-British and is currently based in the South of Spain. She tells stories in English, Spanish and French wherever the wind takes her; Spain, India, Little Tibet, France, Belgium and online. Her passion is to look into people’s eyes, and travel with them through stories, whether in a prison, a yoga school, a Tibetan monastery in the Himalaya, a theatre, a festival, or online with young Palestinian refugees in Gaza. Rebecca trains primary, secondary and language teachers in storytelling techniques and activities in the context of language learning and education in general. She also gives introductory courses in storytelling in Spain and online. Lately, she has been telling stories about grief and death for healing. She likes to use sounds (flute, kalimba, voice, and drum) to give a depth to the stories she tells. Storytelling is a form of communication that goes way beyond words; it is a heart to heart interaction, and that is why she loves it! She has been telling stories for as long as she can remember. She studied with Numancia Rojas in Barcelona for three years, and has done shorter workshops and courses with different teachers from different backgrounds, including Jan Blake, UK and Martha Escudero, Mexico. She loves and continues to learn from other storytellers.
Lawns
Ingrid Nixon is a world-traveling storyteller who whisks listeners away on journeys of the imagination. Exploration nailbiters, tall tales, traditional and personal stories—she tells them all on international expeditions, and at venues around the country, including the National Storytelling Festival. Two of Ingrid’s story recordings have received the Storytelling World Gold! She is a champion liar many times over, a claim that makes her mother both proud and worried. She holds a Masters in Storytelling from East Tennessee State University. She currently hails from Southeast Alaska. Learn more and check out her recordings at IngridNixon.com.
Six Swans
Daniel Allison is an international Scottish storyteller, author and podcaster. Equally at home telling stories in schools, prisons or onstage at global festivals, Daniel has a lyrical and evocative style that breathes new life into ancient tales. Like all old-style storytellers, Daniel never uses a book or a script – his vast repertoire of stories are told entirely from memory and interlaced with the magic of the moment. Daniel’s debut novel, The Shattering Sea, is available now. His debut story collection, Scottish Myths & Legends, is available now. Finn & The Fianna, a collection of Celtic warrior tales, will be published by The History Press in December 2020. The Roundhouse Storytelling School, a membership site for oral storytellers founded by Daniel, will launch in January 2020. Daniel recently returned to Scotland after a period living in Thailand. He is available for bookings in Scotland and internationally.
Birth of Athena
Jay Leeming is a performance storyteller adept at connecting the wild river of poetry with the earth-based stories humans have carried in their voices for thousands of years, bringing these stories alive to audiences in theaters, schools, libraries and National Parks. He is the author of two books of poetry, the creator of the Crane Bag Storytelling Podcast and the recipient of a fellowship from the National Endowment for the arts.
Oscar
Danielle Daniel is a storyteller and teaching artist. Her storytelling programs have received rave reviews from parents, educators, business and community organizations, and most importantly, students of all ages. She has worked with numerous schools and community organizations to help create programs to promote cultural diversity. Danielle uses the art of storytelling, drama, literature, and creative movement to enhance students writing and critical thinking skills.
Peacock Love
Award-winning storyteller Anne Rutherford delights audiences nationwide with funny, touching performances that include tales of personal adventure, Pacific Northwest folklore and prize-winning lies. Her singing and mandolin playing add to the fun, along with vivid vocal and physical characterizations such as her original Wild West alter-ego, the adventurous Clementine Ryder. A featured teller at the 2018 National Storytelling Festival, Anne has also twice been a Teller in Residence at the International Storytelling Center. Rutherford’s CD, The Habit of Joy, is a Storytelling World award winner. However, she is also five-time first place winner of the Northwest Folklife Liar’s Contest — so don’t believe everything she tells you. Rutherford performs and leads workshops across the country, often in with her husband Norm Brecke as Anne & Norm: Storytellers. Besides telling in festivals, Anne enjoys working as a teaching artist in schools, telling at libraries, and devising new stories. Treat your audience to Anne’s storytelling — contact her at (503) 830-2398 / .
Man Tree of the Lake
Wangari is a performance storyteller based in Nairobi Kenya. An enthusiast in using an interactive approach, she has shared stories in her country and away, and is the author of three children’s books.