Adults ONLY Stories! An evening of storytelling for adult ears!
Saturday, Oct. 14, 9:00 PM – 11:00 PM EDT & in your time zone! 🌎Worldwide on ZOOM
Register for FREE here: http://bit.ly/ASSTOct14Adults
The Storytellers:
Lorna MacDonald Czarnota
Ty Fance
Heather Forest
Cara Lopez Lee
Loren Niemi
Jon White
Kuniko Yamamoto
Emcee: Stuart Nager
Tech Host: Ashton Cynthia Clarke
Tellers: Loren Niemi, Cory Howard, Tim Ereneta, Steve Daut, Rachelle Dart, April Armstrong
Description: Included in your Festival ticket, this one-of-a-kind concert features storytellers from across the country. It’s a great opportunity to hear new talent!
April Armstrong Award-winning storyteller April Armstrong weaves melodies and words into her multi-cultural folktales, including African-American and Latino stories. She has performed for the National Association of Black Storytellers’ (NABS) Conference, The National Storytelling Network Conference, the Beaver Tales Storytelling Festival, the Connecticut Storytelling Festival, Hudson River Clearwater, and for schools in Jamaica and Indonesia. Armstrong is the recipient of the National Storytellers Network’s 2020 J.J. Reneaux Emerging Artist and the 2015 Bronx BRIO awards for Storytelling, and her debut CD won a Parents Choice Silver Award. Visit her website
Rachelle DartTraditional storyteller, theatremaker, and teaching artist, Rachel Dart grew up on stories, where mythology was woven into the foundation of her home, folklore hung on the walls like vines, fairy tales danced through the air, and histories walked the halls. Dart trained in storytelling under Liz Weir, MBE, and together they received the JJ Reneaux Mentorship Award from the National Storytelling Network. An Advanced Actor Combatant with the Society of American Fight Directors, Dart is inspired by characters who endure hardship, are magical helpers, explore gritty truths, and display kindness. Rachelle teaches theatre students at Shea Middle School. Visit her Instagram
Steve DautSteve Daut has been performing in various venues for over 35 years. Whether telling folk tales, tall tales, personal stories, or Mark Twain adaptations, Steve brings quirky characters to the stage, often finding wisdom in the most unlikely places. Onstage credits include magic, sketch and stand-up comedy, improvisation, storytelling, and MC work, but he ultimately found a true home with storytelling, which has become his focus for the last 8 years. Daut is a graduate of the Second City and the Purple Rose Theatre Actor-Director Lab. His book of short story adaptations, Telling Twain, received Honors from the 2020 Storytelling World Awards. Visit his website
Tim ErenetaStoryteller Tim Ereneta connects ancient stories to modern-day life, as he shares classic and forgotten fairy tales with audiences of all ages—but especially adults. Trained as a playwright and actor, Ereneta brings more than 25 years of stage experience to his performances. He has shared his work from Washington, DC, to Chennai, India, including the Bay Area Storytelling Festival, the Capital Fringe Festival, the Stitching Star Storytelling Festival, the National Storytelling Conference, and in theaters, art museums, camps, churches, nightclubs, and virtual audiences. Visit his website
Cory HowardStoryteller, performer, and producer, Cory Howard has hosted his award-winning, multi-media, immersive storytelling show ‘The Campfireball’ in schools, organizations, and backyards all over the country. The Campfireball show is crafted in the moment around the lives and stories of the audience, and each event is completely unique to whoever happens to be sharing the space together. The result is an experience unlike any entertainment option out there, the show with the twist ending where — surprise! — the audience was actually a community all along. Visit his website
Loren NiemiLoren Niemi has spent 45 years as a storyteller – creating, collecting, performing, and producing storytelling experiences in urban and rural settings. Whether at Fringe Festivals, poetry and story slams, working in “Post-Troubles” Northern Ireland, or performing on the Great Wall of China, Loren lives the stories he tells. He is the founder and CSO (Chief Storytelling Officer) of The American School of Storytelling and the author of six books, including an award-winning collection of ghost stories and three books on crafting stories. In 2016 he received the National Storytelling Network’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Visit his website
From Story to Stage: Puppetry and Object Work
Friday, October 20 | 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Grades: 6–8
Instructor: Loren Niemi
Price: $95
Take a well-loved story and adapt it for performance through the magic of puppetry, object work, movement and play. Students will choose (or write their own version of) a story, identify the characters and moments they want to feature and then make the story come alive onstage. Using cardboard, found materials and markers, students will build characters and rehearse their movements and interactions with other characters and props, leading to a final story sharing at the end of the day.
Each of us have stories that we love, whether sweet, funny or sad of growing up, high school, work, family, or the challenges we have faced. Learn how to tell the story of your life.
Our “Storytelling Your Life’s Legacy” four-session workshop with Professional Storyteller, Loren Niemi, will help you identify, craft and comfortably tell the legacy stories you want to share with family and friends.
Wednesdays, October 11- November 1, 10:30am-noon
Hopkins Activity Center
Raspberry Room
33 14th Ave N
Hopkins, MN 55343
To register for this workshop visit https://bit.ly/StorytellingYourLifesLegacy
Everyone contemplating writing a memoir asks the question-“Is the story of my life worth telling?” This class says a resounding “Yes!”
From Memory to Memoir affirms the value of your life’s experience through the combined crafts of writing and storytelling. This workshop focused on developing memorable characters, creating strong story structure, deepening emotional impact, and crafting vivid language. It’s designed for any level of experience.
Workshop taught by Regi Carpenter
Three 90-minute online sessions Thursdays, Nov 2, 9, & 13. All sessions at 7:00 PM ET.
To register:
This is an ongoing monthly series of storytelling open mics that will take place on the 3rd Monday of the month.
Here’s how it works:
Up to 10 Tellers. 10 minutes each. Any style- traditional, personal, braided. etc. Sign-up will be first come, first serve.
Doors at 6:30, show at 7pm. Please do not park on Hennepin Ave before 6pm as you will get towed!
This event presented in partnership of Story Arts of Minnesota and the American School of Storytelling.
Check out our ‘Getting Here’ page for parking information.
Welcome to the launch of our new in-person storytelling open mic series! This is the first of an ongoing monthly series of storytelling open mics that will take place on the 3rd Monday of the month.
Here’s how it works:
Up to 10 Tellers. 10 minutes each. Any style- traditional, personal, braided. etc. Sign-up will be first come, first serve.
Doors at 6:30, show at 7pm. Please do not park on Hennepin Ave before 6pm as you will get towed!
This event presented in partnership of Story Arts of Minnesota and the American School of Storytelling.
Check out our ‘Getting Here’ page for parking information.
1762 Hennepin Ave South, Minneapolis, MN
Doors at 6:30, show at 7pm
Join us (Christine and Loren) for a celebration of “Circus Rex” (after 40 years of stories, 20 years and 9 versions in the writing, it’s finally making its way in the world) with bbq, beer, and books.
Oh and stories from Kevin Kling and myself of the journey from the headwaters of the Mississippi to New Orleans that was the source material of this “memoir” gone off the rails replete with carny come-on’s, poetic imagery, and off-beat humor.
Cover art by Michael Sommers
by Christine Mounts ~ September 3, 2023
While wandering the Minnesota State Fair conducting our annual folklore tour, Dr. Buzz’s State Fair Odyssey, we made a stop at the 12:30pm Arts A’Fair performance of the Black Storytellers Alliance. Being the last show, at lunchtime, and in the heat of the day, only two performers told stories under the foliage of the East Grandstand Plaza. But it was a real treat to see their performance.
If you missed the Black Storytellers Alliance at The Fair, you can see them perform by attending the 33rd Annual Black Masters Storytellers Festival on September 28-30, 2023.
Afterward, as our Founder Loren Niemi chatted with Master Storyteller Vusumuzi Zulu, I made my way around the gathered audience, circling the plaza with some promo materials and asked what I thought would be an easy question: “Are you interested in storytelling?” For ¾ of the people sitting on the benches in the shade, with corn and beer in hand, the answer was “no.”
OK, so maybe the State Fair is not the best place to find an audience for storytelling. To be fair to The Fair, the East Grandstand Plaza was a better location than the North End Event Center, which was a place of blazing sun and no seating last year. But I continue to be astounded by the lack of interest or understanding of this artform.
Continue reading
The dramatic true story of Pam’s great-uncle who was one of the few 3rd-class male passengers to survive the tragedy. A richly-layered story of immigration, adventure, homesteading, friendship, family, and survival you won’t soon forget.
Thursday, September 14 @ 7pm on the 1762 Hennepin Stage. For ages 10 to adult.
Colorado storyteller and teaching artist Pam Faro has spent the past 35 years exploring how storytelling connects people across boundaries, spreads light, and lifts hearts and spirits – needed now more than ever! She invites you right in with warmth and depth, whether she’s telling a bilingual cuento, an intriguing personal story, an historical epic, or multicultural folktales.
To register: