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Share Healing Story Alliance is a not-for-profit, educational, arts organization which provides online resources and concert, workshop, and community programming in support of storytelling as a healing art.
Description
Join the Healing Story Alliance for a special gathering to share and explore stories of kindness in its many faces and forms. Through folk tales and personal stories, we will dive deeply into multiple experiences of kindness. What is it? How does it impact us and our relationships to ourselves, to each other, to the world? Come and listen to “kind stories” shared by both professional tellers and community members and see what memories of kindness emerge for you.
Date: December 1, 2024
Time: 7:00pm-8:30pm EST
(Open Mic Story Share and Reflection: last half hour)
Format: The story session opens with a concert of seasoned tellers and community tellers sharing stories with themes of kindness. During the second half of the gathering, audience members are invited to share a story, moment, or reflection about kindness that emerged for them as listeners.
Purpose: We all need a little more kindness in our lives. Perhaps a story can take us there.
“WHEN YOU ARE KIND TO OTHERS, IT NOT ONLY CHANGES YOU, IT CHANGES THE WORLD.”
Harold Kushner
ABOUT the STORYTELLERS
Featured Tellers
Derek Burrows was born in The Bahamas where storytelling was once a vital part of the cultural tradition. As a storyteller, Derek specializes in Afro-Caribbean and African Diaspora tales; he has been “telling” for over three decades nationally and internationally.
Derek’s singular style is filled with textures and colors, whether telling stories, playing music, leading workshops or presenting original works. A true native of the Bahamas, he carries on the tradition of entertaining and educating wherever he goes and with whomever he meets. As a professional musician his performances include an array of instruments and sounds.
Derek currently lives between Mexico, The Bahamas and USA where he continues to give workshops and performances as a storyteller and educator focusing on issues of Race and Culture. His documentary, Before the Trees Was Strange, a film about his family, is used in universities across the country as a jumping off point for exploration and discussion.
Dr. Kevin D. Cordi is a storyteller and educator and Narrative 4 trained coach who values the transformative power of deep listening. With a career that spans over 25 years, Kevin has cultivated a rich and authentic approach to storytelling. Currently an Associate Professor at Ohio University Lancaster, Kevin teaches storytelling, education, and literacy. His scholarly contributions include influential books such as Playing with Stories: Story Crafting for Writers, Teachers, and Other Imaginative Thinkers. His impact extends beyond the classroom through his work with the Educator Advisor Panel for Learning for Justice and as the founder of the YES (Youth, Educators, Storytellers) SIG of the National Storytelling Network. He was also recognized by the National Storytelling Network as the first full-time high school storytelling teacher in the country. He serves as a National Writing Project Consultant and works with the Ohio University Appalachian Writing Project and for years served as a Co-Director for the Columbus Area Writing Project at The Ohio State University.
His storytelling has taken him to stages at events including the International Book Festival and the Qatar Foundation, and he has been commissioned by the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Dr. Cordi’s approach to storytelling is rooted in play, practice, and the profound impact of shared creativity. Learn more about his work and join him in exploring the art and power of storytelling at www.kevincordi.com. |
Janice M. Del Negro, PhD, is a professor at the School of Information Studies at Dominican University in River Forest, Illinois. Educator, author, and coach, she has been a featured storyteller and presenter at the National Storytelling Conference, the Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, the Northlands Storytelling Conference, the Mariposa Storytelling Festival, the National Storytelling Festival, the Moonshell Storytelling Festival, the Rocky Mountain Storytelling Conference, the Tejas Storytelling Festival, and many other celebratory events. Her book, Folktales Aloud: Practical Tips for Playful Storytelling was awarded a Storytelling World Resource Award in 2015. Her recent title, Engaging Teens with Story: How to Inspire and Educate Youth with Storytelling (2017) with Dr. Melanie Kimball, received a Storytelling World Resource Award and was named SLC/ARBA’s “Best Professional Resource for School or Youth Librarians.” Del Negro collaborated with Ellin Greene on the fourth edition of the classic storytelling textbook, Storytelling: Art & Technique (2010), and is the editor of the fifth edition, published in 2021. In 2016, Del Negro received the National Storytelling Network’s Circle of Excellence Award, “presented to artists who are recognized by their peers to be master storytellers who set the standards for excellence and have demonstrated, over a significant period of time, a commitment and dedication to the art of storytelling.” She currently produces Traditions and Truth: A Virtual Open Mic for Folktales, Fairy Tales, and Personal Stories, a cooperative program between Dominican University and Illinois Storytelling, Inc. Along with Megan Wells, Del Negro produces MoonShine Stories, a curated concert series held on the full moon of every month.
Emcee
Valentina Ortiz Pandolfi has been on stage since she was 6 years old. She is a storyteller and a musician. She takes her stories to schools, parks, theaters and festivals in Mexico, the US, different parts of Asia and Latin America. She has published 5 books and produced 4 records with her original stories and music. Since 2017, she is the founder and director of Zazanilli Cuentos A.C., Mexican nonprofit that takes storytelling and music to underprivileged communities. She now deeply enjoys multilingual storytelling, Spanish, Nahuatl, English, French. Since 2023, she is the recipient of the Mexican Government three-year grant, Creadores Escénicos.
Community Tellers
Maxwell Washington
I’m a young storyteller from Rhode Island, and though I’m only 17, I have a lot of experience performing. Ever since I was little, I’ve had a passion for being on stage. I discovered storytelling in the summer of 2023, and instantly fell in love with it. My first official storytelling performance was at Funda Fest in Newport, in January 2024. Since then, I haven’t been able to stop sharing stories.
Ana Arevalo
I have spent my career as a small animal clinician focusing on integrative complementary medicine in Veterinary Practice. I live and work Santa Tecla, in El Salvador. I try to educate pet owners on lifestyle decisions to enhance the wellbeing of their animals. I enjoy being outdoors, hiking, gardening and sharing time with family and friends. I met Elisa Pearmain while hiking on the Camino in Spain last June.
Date & Time
Sun, Dec 1, 2024 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM