Workshops and Classes

Teaching Without Preaching: Creating Stories that Educate AND Entertain
with Susan O’Halloran
Monday, February 13, 7-9:30pm
Location: 35th and Grand in Uptown

(private home; exact address will be provided upon registration)

$30 for Northstar Members, $40 for others

You have something to say in a story, but how do you say it without sounding too pushy, opinionated or downright boring? This workshop shows how to combine education and entertainment into stories that respect, enlighten and emotionally move your audience members to take action. You’ll leave better understanding your motives for telling socially relevant stories and be given practical ways to overcome the fears all of us have around taking stands. You’ll learn how to structure stories for deeper meaning and how those structures differ from other fables and personal stories.

Susan O’Halloran is one of America’s top Diversity Speakers and Storytellers. Susan is an author and a producer of Black, White and Brown: Tribes & Bridges at the Steppenwolf Theatre and More Alike Than Not: Stories of Three Americans – Catholic, Jewish and Muslim and the long-running JustStories Festival. In high school, she became part of an interracial youth group and studied with adults who were working with Dr. King. She has been building bridges between cultures ever since.

The Chicago Reader says O’Halloran “has mastered the Irish art of telling stories that are funny and heart-wrenching at the same time.” Her audiences say: “In an entertaining way, Sue opened our minds to how society still excludes and what we can do to create a more welcoming world!” Susan was a National Storytelling Network keynote speaker and has several times been a featured teller at the National Storytelling Festival. Sue lives in Evanston, Illinois and can be found at: www.susanohalloran.com and 1-866-997-8726.

Select

General – $40 Northstar Members – $30

Buy a 4-Workshop Punchcard!

Northstar Members – $80 Non-members – $130

To learn about other upcoming workshops in our series, go to our Workshop Series page.

A Story to Tell Workshop Part 1
Tuesday, Feb 28, 1:30 – 3:00 pm
Plymouth Creek Center
14800 34th Ave No, Plymouth 55447

More info [PDF]: http://www.plymouthmn.gov/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=4303

Carol McCormick, Professional Storyteller for over 30 years and an author, will prime the creative pump by sharing stories. You’ll receive possible topics and inspirational writing exercises, then start writing your own special story and polish it using Carol’s Editorial Tip Sheet. Course #37906.

A Story to Tell Workshop Part 2
Tuesday, March 13, 1:30 – 3:00 pm
Plymouth Creek Center
14800 34th Ave No, Plymouth 55447

More info [PDF]: http://www.plymouthmn.gov/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=4303

Carol McCormick, Professional Storyteller for over 30 years and an author, will have you share what you wrote after Part 1. Then you’ll create a photo story album and receive instruction on how to tell your story to an audience. Course #37907.

Beyond Happily Ever After
with Loren Niemi
Monday, March 19, 7-9:30pm
Location: 35th and Grand in Uptown

(private home; exact address will be provided upon registration)

$30 for Northstar Members, $40 for others

A workshop on arriving at appropriate and satisfying conclusions. A story begins at the beginning (and we might argue that anyplace we want to start will do) but where it ends should not be left up to happenstance, failure of imagination or bad timing. We will examine and test story endings – from the classical formulas, to the emotional, the philosophical, punch lines and useful or patronizing morals to understand something about the where and how of ending our stories. For: beginner through advanced storyteller

Loren Niemi is a storyteller, performer, writer/poet and the Executive Director of In the Heart of the Beast Puppet & Mask Theatre. His storytelling and written work has been called “postmodern” with a bias toward the philosophically and emotionally nuanced story. His community building work has been divided between working usually with neighborhoods or arts organizations and often with minority and immigrant groups. He is the co-author with Elizabeth Ellis of the critically acclaimed “Inviting the Wolf In: Thinking About Difficult Story” and the author of the forthcoming “The New Book of Plots” on the use of narrative plot forms.

Select

General – $40 Northstar Members – $30

Buy a 4-Workshop Punchcard!

Northstar Members – $80 Non-members – $130

To learn about other upcoming workshops in our series, go to our Workshop Series page.

Kickstarter Workshop
Sunday, March 25, 6-8pm
The Soap Factory
514 2nd St. SE, Minneapolis, MN

Join Springboard for the Arts for an exploration of Kickstarter, the world’s largest funding platform for creative projects. Kickstarter’s own Stephanie Pereira will be in Minneapolis to lead off the evening with a presentation on how to bring your project to life. Learn how to structure a project, what kind of rewards work best, and other helpful tips and valuable stats. Stephanie welcomes questions as we take a more detailed look at the anatomy of a successful project.

Free. Open admission. No pre-registration required.

Monthly Storytelling Group

Elaine Wynne offers a monthly group for people who wish to deepen their stories of personal development or spirituality. Elaine has conducted hundreds of workshops for storytellers or people who want to develop their skills as “good talkers”. $20 per session. To register, call Elaine at (763)546-1662 or e-mail topstory7@comcast.net.