Our Members

Josette Andree Antomarchi

Storyteller/Actor
Bilingual; French/English
Phone: 612.598.6232
Email: funnyfrenchlady [at] gmail.com

Josette delights in telling stories:

• Her growing up by the sea in the South of France…
• Her Summers in The Island of Corsica…
• Her adventures as an actress in Paris…
• Fairy Tales and Folk Tales of Old Europe told in fully costumed Character…
• Improvisations on a theme or an Art Piece…
• Stories of the Life and Songs of Edith Piaf, “The Little Sparrow”…

Experience:

• As a Teller/Actor
• Member of Northstar Storytelling League, Minneapolis MN.
• Guest Teller of Northlands Storytelling Network, Madison WI.
• Guest Teller at Twin Cities Storyfest
• Guest Teller/Character at Minneapolis Institute of Arts
• Teller/Character at Norsk Hosfest Scandinavian Festival in Minot ND.
• Teller/Character for TV series at Children Hospitals Mpls/St Paul MN
• Teller/Educator for Young Audiences of Minnesota
• Teller/Actor at the Minnesota Fringe Festival

Michael Bauman

Coon Rapids, MN
Phone: 763-222-4086
Email: 2mnbauman [at] comcast.net

A Storyteller and Business Instructor with 40 years’ experience in Human Resources. Brings insightful, illuminating, heartwarming and humorous business and employee relations stories to life, with a high energy delivery.

Allison Broeren

Minneapolis, MN
Email: allison.broeren-AT-gmail.com
Website: www.storyslammn.org

Allison Broeren is a spoken word artist, a Rockstar Storyteller, the founder of Story SlamMN! and the Slam Master of nationally recognized Poetry SlamMN!. She has produced and performed a number of hit Fringe shows including All the Things I Never Told My Mother, and I’ll Marry You for Health Insurance. She has also performed in Women Stand Up! A Comedy Cabaret, been featured on KFAI’s Write On! Radio, and has performed on tables at house parties throughout the tri-state area. Contact Allison for your performance, hosting, or teaching needs.

Dale Butler

Fridley, MN
Phone: (763) 717-4703
Email: dbutler33 [at] comcast.net

Southern born and raised. Sixty-nine-year-old male. I’ve lived in Minnesota since 1978. I love to tell stories and listen to others’ stories.

Tom Cassidy

Minneapolis, MN
Phone: 952.548.2218
Email: cassidy [at] usfamily.net

Though not a storyteller, painter, poet, actor or otherwise disciplined artist, Tom Cassidy enjoys pushing his luck in front of a live audience, ideally positioned on the edge of a cliff. His written/drawn pieces have appeared in hundreds of small press, big press, gallery, museum and misc. venues around the globe. The Sant Antonio Express News calls his performances “fascinating, animated, arresting,” but it’s pretty hot and boozy in Texas.

Alex Cleberg

Minneapolis, MN
Phone: 719 660 0448
Email: acleberg [at] gmail [dot] com
Website: www.interculturaladventure.blogspot.com

How many answers are there to the question, “what is it to be human?” The drive to answer this question has led Alex to work as a teacher in Tokyo, narrowly escape scam artists in Bangkok, fend off a monkey ambush on the islands of Vietnam, sleep in a cardboard box on the streets of Chicago, rebuild destroyed villages in Sri Lanka, and share small business advice with woman entrepreneurs in Uganda. Alex is currently a graduate student, business developer, intercultural consultant, improvisational coach, producer and actor, husband, son and father. He performs on the stages of HUGE and the Brave New Workshop, tells stories at Word Ninjas and presents on the topic of intercultural competence. Alex’s wealth is measured in experience. He shares it with you through story.

Beverly Cottman

Minneapolis, MN
Email: beverlycottman [at] gmail.com
Web site: www.salon1016.org. Or look for her at mnartists.org.

Stories, tales and epics from the African Diaspora for all audiences. Traditional and contemporary presentations of universal themes in intimate settings or large gatherings. Auntie Beverly educates, enlightens and entertains.

Debra Darby

Minneapolis, MN
Phone: 612-354-3229
Email: Darbyarts [at] hotmail [dot] com

Fireflies Storytelling for Children

Storytelling is able to offer a “butterfly” or soul message to children. The stories I share range from humorous to serious, and provide wholesome entertainment. They promote positive values such as cooperation, overcoming obstacles, resiliency and peace. These story gems ripple out in a child’s mind like a stone thrown in water, nourishing them in their growing years and beyond.

Debra began storytelling as a Waldorf teacher, and her storytelling experience has spread to schools and community organizations. She has developed ongoing relationships with several schools and community programs, choosing stories to suit their unique needs. A lively storyteller, she believes in storytelling as a way to spark children’s imaginations and enhance their development. Debra is an actress and has studied many forms of dance, from ballet and folk to sacred. She danced with a Jamaican folk dance ensemble as well as a sacred dance group, and currently dances in an improvisation group. Her education includes a B.S. in Theatre and a Masters degree in Social Work (M.S.W.). She worked as a social worker in the Minneapolis schools for many years.

Fireflies Healing Storytelling for Children and Families

When children experience certain challenges, such as personal or cultural discrimination, chemical dependency issues, illness, or separation from loved ones, many children never see a therapist or other helping professional. Schools and organizations often do not have the resources to address these stressors. A story can indirectly provide an enjoyable and entertaining teaching and healing channel for such a child. This healing ultimately radiates to the family and community.

In my role as a teaching/healing storyteller, I reach children on a social and emotional level in a respectful and positive way. My goal is to teach social truths and values, offer hope and inspiration, encourage improved behavior and provide indirect emotional support to children facing particular issues. I aim to reach children who are in the important developmental age group of five through twelve years, when an early teaching/healing message may have a significant influence. Settings may include schools, community programs, shelters, hospitals, or other healing environments.

John Dingley

Willernie, MN
Email: john.digley [at] gmail . com
Phone: (651) 280-7232

Craftsman, Artist, Singer, Poet, Actor, Stone mason, Glass engraver/Cutter and Storyteller “John Dingley and the Biggest Pack of Lies You Ever Heard.”

Nancy Donoval, MFA

P.O. Box 16244
Minneapolis, MN 55416
Phone: 612-889-4043 (cell)
Email: NancyDonoval [at] gmail.com
Websites: www.NancyDonoval.com
www.Stories2StopRape.com

Nancy Donoval is a storyteller, speaker and teaching artist. She is the 2010 National Story Slam Champ. Her work has been heard on Minnesota and Chicago Public Radio and she was featured at the 2004 National Storytelling Festival. Her one-woman shows (Dancing Rats & Vampire Moms; Monster Movies with My Undead Dad) played to sold-out houses at the Minnesota Fringe Festival.

Besides her work as a performance storyteller, Nancy speaks at colleges and universities on sexual assault awareness and prevention. Go to her website to hear her National Story Slam winning excerpt from her campus rape program, “No Shame, No Silence: Stories to Stop Rape.”

Nancy is also a story coach and teaching artist. She works with storytellers, non-profit and business leaders, and other public speakers. She has a particular affinity for helping craft difficult or complicated material.

Bill Eisenmann
Stories For Living

Maplewood, MN
Phone: 651-731-7901
Email: beisenmann [at] storiesforliving.com
Website: www.storiesforliving.com

Bill is a retired pastor who used stories in different areas of pastoral ministry. He grew up hearing, reading and telling stories. He enjoys telling stories to all ages in churches, schools, community groups and to his grand children. His mission is to tell stories and do workshops for all ages that can empower them to live their lives in love and respect for themselves, others and the world. When Bill isn’t telling stories or doing wokshops, he collects material by canoeing and camping, hiking, listening and reading, woodworking, model railroading, and participating in activities at the Germanic-American Institute in St. Paul.

Marian Eisenmann

Maplewood, MN
Phone: 651-731-7901

Retired pastor and former nurse. Marian uses her parish ministry and nursing experience to help shape her retreats and storytelling programs. Her mission is to facilitate personal and spiritual growth through the use of storytelling and women’s retreats. In addition, Marian works part time as a hospital chaplain.

Sue Frykman

Waterville, MN
Email: goddesskf [at] aol.com

Sue’s stories are told through the unusual medium of coloring books. Using a mixture of text and drawings, she entices her audience to participate in the stories. A refuge from corporate America, now a professional artist, Sue hopes to sell more books (currently self-published) and consider commissions for custom color books from individuals, families and organizations with stories to tell.

Katherine Glover

Minneapolis, MN
Email: messages [ at ] katherineglover.net
Website: katherineglover.net

Katherine Glover is a writer, journalist, performer and storyteller. She’s created four solo storytelling shows and performed at theater festivals throughout the U.S. and Canada. She’s also appeared on Minnesota Public Radio’s “In The Loop” and featured at numerous Minneapolis comedy shows and spoken word events, including Two Chairs Telling, Pillsbury Theatre’s Late Nite Series, Hot Dish, Women Stand Up!, Cheap Theatre, and the Monday Night Comedy Show. She’s president of the board of Northstar Storytelling and produced its 2011 Tellabration! festival, “A World of Stories.”

Roger R. Hellesvig
19th Century Programs

Minneapolis, MN
Email: OleOleson.geo [at] yahoo.com
Website: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Academy/7920/

Roger performs living history programs throughout the United States. His programs are suitable for all ages. In most of the programs, he portrays “Ole Oleson,” a Norwegian immigrant.

Andre B. Heuer

Minneapolis, MN
Phone: 612.920.5914
Email: andreh [at] usfamily.net

Dr. Andre B. Heuer LICSW has taught and used storytelling within health care, corrections, a center for the book arts, hospice, justice circles, ministry and social services. As a storyteller he helps individuals to find and create legacy stories, enable communities to explore the stories that bind them together, support organizations in rediscovering their history and mission, and to enable health care professionals to evoke and tell stories of healing. He is a board member of the Healing Story Alliance of the National Storytelling Network.

Heidi Hoks

Waconia, MN
Phone: 952-715-1624
Email: fuschialady99 [at] yahoo.com

Storytelling since 1978, Heidi has performed for schools, public libraries, conferences, community events and religious events as a featured artist. She also conducts storytelling workshops and has been an artist-in-residence. Her style is dramatic and interactive.

Khary Jackson
6 is 9

St. Paul, MN
Email: shazzalives [at] gmail.com
Website: www.layitbare.com

Khary Jackson (aka 6 is 9) is a performance poet and playwright. A Detroit native, he has competed for three years at several national poetry slam competitions, placing 6th place or higher individually each year, as well as winning the 2009 National Poetry Slam with the St. Paul team.

Alison Bergblom Johnson

Minneapolis, MN
Email: alison [at] alisobergblomjohnson.com
Website: alisonbergblomjohnson.com

Alison Bergblom Johnson tells relentlessly true stories. Her one-woman show Other Than Tragedy, about mental illness and her family, premiered in the Minnesota Fringe Festival. She has performed at the Walker Art Center, Patrick’s Cabaret and 7th Street Entry of First Avenue. In 2012, she will be working on an ensemble piece about the manic side of bipolar disorder.

Kathleen Johnson

Arden Hills, MN
Phone: 651-340-6530
Email: info [at] Kathleen-Johnson.com
Website: Kathleen-Johnson.com

Kathleen hails from a long line of North Atlantic coast dwellers. She reaches into the rich history of song and story that has wafted down through her family, and she has shared those stories with audiences since 1990. Kathleen also teaches voice and the proper brewing of tea.

Larry Johnson
“Key of See Storytellers”

Golden Valley, MN
Phone: 612-747-3904
Email: larrjvfp [at] gmail [dot] com
Website: www.keyofsee.mn

Storyteller/Environmental Educator/Media and Peace Activist since the late 1960s. Larry did JFK’s 50 Mile Hike in 1961, and a “story-laden” 61 Mile Hike on his 61st birthday. He has “opened” for Captain Kangaroo at the Kennedy Center and told Peace stories to adults on the Hutton Yacht in Stockholm Harbor, but still mostly loves telling environmental stories with recycled music for children in schools. Winner of Action for Children’s TV Natl. Achievement Award for making TV behave as a storyteller at Mpls Children’s Hospital. With Elaine Wynne, as “Key of See”, won grand prize in Tokyo Video Festival for helping children exchange stories internationally. Key of See does stunning family storytelling programs, and teaches Storytelling for Activists as well as Storytelling for Parents and Grandparents.

Pati Kachel

Shoreview, MN
Home: 651-483-5804
Office: 651-485-1506.
Email: patikachel [at] me.com
Website: www.theparablefund.org

Pati has entertained audiences since 1982 in churches, retreat centers, schools, libraries, senior residences, hospitals, coffee houses, tea rooms and bookstores from Seattle to Pittsburgh. She creatively weaves together heart-warming and humorous life stories and songs into her performances. Drawing from her Norwegian Lutheran heritage, she is also a member of Salt of the Earth Storytellers, sharing Biblical and personal faith stories. Pati is available to present her programs through The Parable Fund, a nonprofit org. whose mission is to share earthly stories based on scriptural truths communicating Judeo-Christian values.

Vickijoan Keck
“The Rainbow Lady”

Minneapolis, MN
Phone: 612.343.7045
Email: vicki1joan [at] hotmail.com

Vickijoan is an actress, poet and storyteller who loves whimsy and rhyme, folktales and personal stories. She is a past president of Northstar and a member of the Minnesota Association of Community Theaters (MACT).

Christy Marie Kent

Savage, MN

Email: christy-AT-christymariekent.com
Website: http://christymariekent.com

“Born in Mississippi and raised all over the south, with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and a master’s in mathematics, I am a writer, storyteller, speaker, and insurance product manager. I enjoy writing and storytelling because I get to be creative and make stuff up—something that they frown on me doing in my day job analyzing insurance statistics and calculating indicated rate levels. That day job has moved me further and further north. Now I find myself living with my husband and two sons in the frozen tundra of Minnesota (don’tcha know), telling stories about the south to any audience that will listen.”

Deb Kielsmeier

Deb loves to tell biblical stories from the point of view of those who were there. She becomes Mary, Martha, Sarah, Priscilla, the Woman at the Well and other biblical women. She shares stories at retreats, women’s events, and in creative worship. Deb is a Presbyterian pastor who lives and works in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area.

Katie Knutson
Rippling Stories

PO Box 28275
Crystal, MN 55429
Phone: 763.535.7509
Email: stories2teach [at] gmail.com
Website: www.ripplingstories.com

“Enchanting and magical,” Katie Knutson is a professional storyteller and owner of Rippling Stories. Regularly performing for both adults and children, Katie works as a storyteller, actor, writer, and educator. She has presented numerous workshops for teachers, storytellers, and students. Notable performances include 9 shows in the Minnesota Fringe Festival and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. She serves as the Minnesota Representative on the board of Northlands Storytelling Network and is serving her second term as the President of Northstar Storytelling League. Contact Katie for workshops, school residencies, performances, story coaching, and teacher in-services.

Noel Labine

Andover, MN
Phone: 651.303.9264
Email: noellabine [at] comcast.net

Telling stories from folklore traditions and personal experiences, Noel has developed a repertoire of stories that both entertain and teach. Drawing from Native American, Asian and European folklore, Noel provides a rich tapestry of material that sets up his personal experience stories in a surprising way. His stories about experiences in Southeast Asia have especially strong teachings about the “emotional trauma” of war.

Ruth Ladwig

Minneapolis, MN
Email: rladwig36 [at] gmail.com.

Ethnic stories from around the world.

Lisa Laird

Orange City, IA
Cell: 712-737-7760
Home: 712-737-2639
Email: lisa {at} pocketsfulloffun.com
Website: www.pocketsfulloffun.com

Lisa Laird is a former elementary and preschool teacher who now travels the Midwest with her cast of puppet friends known as Pockets Full of Fun. Her programs include puppetry, ventriloquism, stories, magic and music. Her goal is to provide children’s programs which entertain, encourage and educate.

phillip andrew bennett low
Maximum Verbosity

website: maximumverbosityonline.org
email: maximumverbosityonline ( at ) gmail ( dot ) com

phillip andrew bennett low is a Chinese-American playwright and poet, storyteller and mime, theatre critic and libertarian activist. His performances have won acclaim at such varied venues as the Minnesota Renaissance Festival, Spirit in the House, FoolFest, and the Chicago, DC, Indianapolis, Iowa, and Kansas City Fringe Festivals — even as far as Melbourne, Australia. At the 2007 Minnesota Fringe, his hit one-man show “Descendant of Dragons” was the bestselling show in its venue and awarded a coveted Fringe Encore slot, while his storytelling performances have been nominated for awards by local website FringeFamous for three years running. He is the co-founder of the Rockstar Storytellers (for which he served as Chair for the two years that position existed) and was founder and producer of the touring theatre troupe Maximum Verbosity.

Curt Lund

Minneapolis, MN
Email: curt [at] trueenough.com
Website: www.curtandlaura.com

Curt Lund’s literary work has been featured on stages, pages and airwaves including Tellabration! 2008, the Minnesota Book Awards, Minnesota Public Radio, McSweeney’s, CBC Radio, the Minneapolis Geek Slam, KFAI, GLBT Pride festivals in three states, and cabaret and open-mic performances across the Midwest and in glamorous faraway destinations from Vegas to Vermillion. Curt and performing partner Laura Bidgood are the nerds behind the critically acclaimed spoken word storytelling shows “Slow Jobs”; “Boys Don’t Make Passes at Girls Who Wear Glasses”; and “Take a Left at the Giant Cow: A Beginner’s Guide to North Dakota”. Curt is also a founding member of Rockstar Storytellers.

Lennie Major

Mounds View, MN
Phone: 763.717.9168 or Cell: 612.384.4887
Email: major18 [at] comcast.net

“I’ve been telling tales officially since 1988 – mostly jewish ones, and more particularly, Jewish tales of the Supernatural. I tell original tales as well as officiate bibliodrama with groups. I have done a lot of work with children and youth groups.”

Mike Mann

Minneapolis, MN
Phone: 612.724.4454 or 612.724.7074
Email: mike [at] storymann.com
Website: www.storymann.com

Mike began telling stories when his family put their TV away. Coauthor of Telling Stories and contributing author of The Art Of Storytelling; Training Consultant, National Institute on Media and the Family; Certified Trainer – Minnesota School Age Care Alliance. Keynote Speaker, Minnesota HeadStart Conference, Minnesota PTA Conference, member of Cygnus Storytelling.

Carol McCormick

Plymouth, MN
Phone: 763-546-4133 and 715-533-4554
Website: www.carolmccormick.net
Email: mccobuch [at] comcast.net

A professional storyteller for over 30 years, Carol is a performer, workshop leader, author, and conference keynoter. She is a former teacher and corporate trainer who presents programs for all ages–from preschool to senior audiences–and does school artist residencies, teacher workshops and assembly programs. Carol adds sparkle and warmth to adult meetings and conferences, parties (birthday, anniversary, croning, holiday), wedding receptions, church services and spiritual gatherings, fairs, singles events,
librarie, shopping centers and festivals.

Carol’s program themes range from multicultural, literacy, ecology, history, holiday, science, Irish, Egyptian, to peacemaking. Her costumed characters include Ms. Val N. Tine, Shamrock O’Toole, Wanda the Witch, Ever Green and the Snow Queen. She will tailor a program to fit your theme.

Carol has been a keynote speaker and session presenter at both Young and Adult Author Conferences. Her children’s book A Bridge for Grandma is based on interviews with children who have had Near-Death-Experiences. She is the author and trainer of the storytelling curriculum “Change the Culture that Allows Bullying: Working with Young Children.”

Rose McGee

Minneapolis, MN
Phone: 763.544.9366
Email: rtist528 [at] aol.com

Storyteller, poet, playwright. Uses the art of connecting the human spirit in an a cappella rhythm called “Story + Song = Harmony.”

Margaret Meyers

Little Canada, MN
Email: margaretmeyers [at]  q.com
Phone: 651-484-4389
Cell: 620-276-9849
Website: www.storyteller.net/tellers/mmeyers

“Minnesota became my home in 2010. After a career teaching college philosophy and many years writing, I found storytelling ten years ago. It gives me an opportunity to do what I want most to do: to explore, to educate, to challenge, to play. In the creative world of storytelling lie deep truths.”

Nan Montgomery

Forest Lake, MN
Email: nmonty48 [at] gmail.com

“I hail from Duluth where my Pa told me Lake Superior ‘swallows small children and big ships.’ So you can see I come by my storytelling gene honestly. I’m very democratic — I’ll tell anywhere. I’ve performed at a bookstores, coffee shops, festivals, pubs, and theaters. Some stories are newly created by me and others are drawn from our rich heritage of folklore and myth. I like to tell First Nation tales and immigrant tales, folk tales and ghost stories, and especially folk tales that are ghost stories. Nearly all my stories are about that strange species known as human.”

Paula Reed Nancarrow

Minneapolis, MN
Phone: 612.217.1027
Email: prnancarrow [at] gmail.com
Website: http://paulareednancarrow.com/

Paula is a writer and teller of personal and historical narratives, as well as folk tales and myths, that reflect the texture and complexity of family and community life, its blessings and betrayals. Her stories for children empower and entertain, and adults should expect no less. She strives to give her audience, of whatever age, an awareness of beauty in the moment, a vision of justice, and inspiration to act effectively and compassionately in the world. Paula has performed at a variety of venues, including Cheap Theater, the Minnesota Fringe Festival, Northstar’s Tellabration!, PJ Stories, the Spirit in the House Festival and the Science Museum of Minnesota, as well as at the Northlands Storytelling Network Conference, a regional event for Midwestern storytellers. Her one woman Fringe show, The Sins of the Mothers, will be featured at the 2012 National Storytelling Network Conference.

Rachel Nelson

Two Harbors, MN
Phone: 651.353.3370 (cell)
Email: bardlive [at] usfamily.net
Website: http://www.bardlive.com/

Accompanying her stories on fiddle, banjo, guitar, hand drum, and washtub bass, Rachel Nelson has taken her brand of interactive live performance to venues as diverse as the Moose is Loose Story Tent in Ely, the Cedar Cultural Center on the West Bank of Minneapolis, and the Minnesota Fringe Festival. Rachel loves the exchange of energy between audience and teller. “Every performance is unique,” she says, “a thing we create together in the moment.”

Thea Nicholas

Des Moines, IA
Phone: (515) 778-2279
Email: entheastic [at] aol [dot] com
Website: www.grandmothernaturetales.com

Thea tells stories for all ages based on ancient myths, new science and everything in between. She researches, writes and performs many one-woman shows including: Susan B Anthony, Iowa’s Wonder Women and more. She uses nature-based tales for school age children believing that we all have an inner bias toward our natural surroundings.

Loren Niemi

Minneapolis, MN
Phone: 651.271.6349
Email: niemistory [at] aol.com
Website: www.storytelling.org/Niemi

Loren Niemi has been creating, collecting, and performing for audiences of all ages since 1978. Loren teaches storytelling in the Theater program at Metropolitan State University and is the author of “The New Book of Plots” and the co-author with Elizabeth Ellis of “Inviting the Wolf In: Thinking About Difficult Stories.” He is the Producer of the critically acclaimed Two Chairs Telling series as well as coaching and directing other storytellers. Loren also works with individuals, businesses, non-profit organizations and communities on transformative storytelling with a focus on identifying, consciously shaping and passionately telling those stories to name their fears, claim their lives, and create their authentic culture.

Elizabeth Nordell

Duluth, MN
Phone: 218.724.3484
Email: abusweepea [at] aol.com

Elizabeth tells stories from around the world, including bilingual stories. She teaches storytelling too all ages in a variety of settings. She has organized such storytelling events as Tellabration!, Courageous Stories and Tender Tales, and the Food and Farming Story Tent. Elizabeth believes that story is the heart of humanness.

Faith Oremland

Minneapolis, MN
Phone: 612-240-7590
Email: faithtellstales [at] aol.com

After 25+ years in the corporate world, Faith discovered storytelling and an entirely new part of herself. “It is a joy to see people become actively engaged when a story moves them, touches a nerve, sparks a long-forgotten memory.” Stories are like candy for the soul. “My purpose is to make a difference in the lives of those with whom I come into contact and storytelling has given me the opportunity to do that.” She loves telling folktales and Jewish stories especially to children and elders. Faith has performed at the Minneapolis Jewish Humor Festival and currently does storytelling with Kairos Dance and at Children’s Hospital.

Ann Reay

Minneapolis, MN
Phone: 612.309.7589
Email: annreay [at] mac.com

Began storytelling for families at the Minnesota Children’s Museum. Now specialize in stories that draw from world folklore – often involving a fairy or two. She is a member of Klatch Productions. Their first production, My War: From Bismarck to Britain and Back, a true family story of WW II, was part of the 2008 Minnesota Fringe Festival.

Marcie Rendon

Minneapolis, MN
Email: MRendon703 [at] aol.com
Website: www.marcierendon.com

Marcie Rendon, White Earth Anishinabe, writer, playwright, poet, mother, grandmother and sometimes performance artist, creates so that Native people may see themselves and be seen. We are kept in their mindset as “vanished peoples.” Can you believe you exist if you look in a mirror and see no reflection? And what happens when one group controls the mirror market? As Native people, we have known that in order to survive we had to create, re-create, produce, re-produce… The effect of the denial of our existence is that many of us have become invisible… however, not everyone can still that desire, that up-welling inside that says sing, write, draw, move, be… we can sing our hearts out, tell our stories, paint our visions…we are in a position to create a more human reality…in order to live we have to make our own mirrors…

Tina Rohde
Wonderweavers

Eden Prairie, MN
Email: tina [at] wonderweavers.com
Website: www.wonderweavers.com

Whether telling solo or as part of a tandem team with Colleen Shaskin, Tina is dedicated to bring stories and storytelling to life for people of all ages. Wonderweavers specializes in quality entertainment for children and families. Member of Cygnus Storytelling.

Roseanna Gaye Ross

St. Cloud, MN
Phone: 320.252.3213 or 320-308-2217
Email: rgross [at] stcloudstate.edu

Professor of Communications Studies, storyteller, communication consultant and trainer. Specializing in personal stories, cultural stories, inspirational, healing stories, creative writing. Use stories in training about communication issues — conflict, listening, relationship building –- as well as training about story. Performed at Seward, Black Forest and Tellabration! 2010 at Open Book. Studied with Sarah Meybourn and Doug Lipman.

Richard Rousseau
Tales From Another Stage

St. Paul, MN
Phone: 651.646.0338 or 651.649.1757
Email: richard [at] tales-from-another-stage.com

Richard Rousseau has been an active participant in this regions performance community for the past 45 years. He has worked as an actor, a director, a playwright and as a storyteller.

Richard’s interest in storytelling was prompted by a desire to try engaging his audience without the aid of scripting or rehearsal. For the past twenty years he has been refining the craft in a wide variety of settings – formal and informal – across the country.

Richard has a great deal of experience in the classroom working as both a teacher and as a corporate trainer. He has extensive experience utilizing his storytelling techniques as a reenactor for the Minnesota Historical Society. Presently, Richard is a member of the Science Live Acting Company at the Science Museum of Minnesota. He is nationally recognized for his educational scripts performed by museums across the country.

Richard is one of the founders of Northstar Storytelling League. He was the recipient of the NSL Talking Stick Award in 2007.

Amy Salloway

Minneapolis, MN
Email: awkwardmoment [at]  mindspring.com
Website: www.amysalloway.com

Actor/writer/storyteller Amy Salloway has been called “utterly fearless and hysterically funny,” “gifted at finding humor where most would see only darkness” and “the voice for all of us who were picked last for kickball.” A lifelong fan of educational and issue-oriented theatre, she spent years playing flora, fauna and astronomical objects at science museums and elementary schools before taking the plunge and creating original plays around the issues she knows best ­ body image, loneliness, discrimination and bullying, the search for self-worth. Her autobiographical solo shows (“Does This Monologue Make Me Look Fat?”, “So Kiss Me Already, Herschel Gertz!”, “Circumference” and “Entwined”) all began their lives in the Minnesota Fringe Festival, and have gone on to tour to Fringes, solo festivals, colleges, organizations and theatres in the US, Canada and beyond, including appearances at OpenStage Theatre of Harrisburg, Victoria BC’s UNO Festival, the Manhattan JCC, and the International Teatronetto Festival of Solo Performance in Jaffa, Israel. Amy’s been a guest playwright for Interact Center for the Arts, and a contributor to MPR’s “In the Loop” and CBC radio’s “Definitely Not The Opera”; she’s also one of the twelve Rockstar Storytellers, and a Minneapolis Community Ed instructor for improv, theatre and writing classes. She loves performing, but also loves creating workshops and residencies that empower others to put their own inimitable stories on the stage and the page.

David Schaal

Minneapolis, MN
Cell: 612.327.8927
Email: davidrobertschaal [at] hotmail.com

“I am a lover of stories and a teller of tales for children and adults.”

Pam Schweitzer

St. Paul, MN
Phone: 651.487.3376
Email: pls2009 [at] live.com

Pam Schweitzer has been entertaining and educating young people with stories for over ten years and you can find her at coffee shops, schools, churches and presenting to groups such as the Girl Scouts. She is passionate about bringing the magic of stories to children and feels the best question a storyteller can get from a young audience is “Is that really true?” And the chime of “Tell us a story” brings a sparkle to her eye.

A lively storyteller, Pam encourages audiences to experience the story through songs, chants, and movement. Each performance is crafted to the needs of the audience and she will work with groups to present special programs. Some programs she offers include “Operation Cooperation”, “Strong Girls”, “That’s Using Your Noodle (brain)”, and programs centering on character building themes. As a licensed elementary school teacher and Reading Specialist, Pam uses stories to enhance and teach writing skills, and build literacy skills such as comprehension, sequencing, character, plot, visualizing and listening skills. She finds stories are a powerful way to enhance lessons, introduce new ideas, build community and create a safe space for young people to consider new ideas. Besides telling stories, Pam has worked with students in the classroom and after school to teach the art of storytelling. Most of all, she uses stories to grow imaginations and encourage children to trust their own unique voice.

Pam is an active member in the storytelling community. She is a past treasurer of the Northstar Storytelling League board and has developed and produced the monthly children’s venue, P.J. Stories for over seven years.

Joseph Scrimshaw

Minneapolis, MN
joseph [at] jokingenvelope.com
http://josephscrimshaw.com

Joseph Scrimshaw is a critically acclaimed writer, comedian, and the Creative Director of Joking Envelope LLC. As a storyteller, Joseph has experimented with a mix of traditional stories, comedy,and audience interaction in his work as a member of The Rockstar Storytellers as well as appearances on The Current, MPR and KFAI. He has had multiple top ten best-selling shows at the Minnesota Fringe Festival including Adventures in Mating, An Inconvenient Squirrel, and this year’s Brain Fighters. Outside the festival, his work has been seen in New York, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Orlando, the UK, Bulgaria, Peru, the middle of the Caribbean Sea, and various bars across the entire expanse of South Minneapolis. He also makes jokes on twitter at @JosephScrimshaw and posts his stories on his site at http://josephscrimshaw.com.

Dean J. Seal

Minneapolis, MN
Email: seal13dean [at] gmail.com
Website: http://spiritinthehouse.org

Dean J. Seal is Artistic Director of Spirit in the House, a 501 (c)(3) company that produces performances that deal with Spiritual Diversity. Theater, storytelling, film and dance are all part of this effort. Mr. Seal sometimes tells at these events. He is a producer, performer, playwright, preacher and a generally known Big Mouth.

Mr. Seal is now performing Excerpts from Coma Boy, a three-hour performance piece based on his eight-day induced coma following a cardio-respiratory arrest. Mr. Seal addresses the question, “If you accurately describe a hallucination, is it fiction or non-fiction?”

Colleen Shaskin
Wonderweavers

Minnetonka, MN
Email: colleen [at] wonderweavers.com
Website: www.wonderweavers.com

“I enjoy telling stories to all ages and any size group. I am a tandem teller with Tina Rohde and also do solo performances of folk and fairy tales and personal yarns. I specialize in stories for children and their families.” Member of Cygnus Storytelling, www.storyswans.com.

Sara Boyle Trautner

Richfield, MN
Email: sbtrautner [at] yahoo.com

Sara tells traditional Celtic tales, fairy tales with a spin, and some boomer-centric trips down memory lane.

Gene Van Massenhove

Arden Hills, MN
Phone: 651.633.7075
Email: evanmasse [at] yahoo.com

Personal stories and tall tales.

Leif Wallin

Minneapolis, MN
Phone: 612-876-6079
Email: lnw12 [at] comcast [dot] net

“Life is filled with stories, but how many of them do we remember? I reviewed my journal and realized that many of my memories were recorded with a one or two sentence entry. I would have forgotten many if I had not written them down. Now with storytelling, I take a memory, throw in a mix of embellishment and fiction, and can keep them forever. If my friends get a laugh, or a new point of view to consider, then all the better.”

Elaine Wynne
Key of See Storytellers

Golden Valley, MN
Phone: (763) 546-1662
Email: wynneE10 [at] gmail [dot] com
Website: www.keyofsee.mn

Storyteller/Psychologist/Activist since the early 1970s. Created “The Rainbow Dream”, a story to empower children and adults with cancer. Storyteller and Research collaborator on project helping young children and parents manage the symptoms of Asthma with stories and games. That research has been published and utilized internationally. Numerous presentations on Healing Aspects of Storytelling, including University of Albuquerque, Intl. Clinical Hypnosis Conference in Singapore, and Modum Bod Family Treatment Center in Norway. Elaine’s “Tsunami story” has been showcased on NPR and used in training for International Disaster Management projects. A practioner of both EMD-R and Hypnosis, she finds Conversational Storytelling an asset to the self-healing process of individual and group therapy. With Larry Johnson, as Key of See, she does Storytelling for Social Chang, family storytelling programs full of mirth and mystery, and teaches about “Cousin Camp,” for grandchildren, using storymaking to pass on values and heighten creativity.

David Zander
“Story Safaris”

Minneapolis, MN
Phone: 612.529.8964
Email: davidbzander [at] gmail.com

David grew up in London. He has traveled in 22 countries and taught in five. These experiences led him to study Anthropology and develop an interest in storytelling. He collects stories from around the world, including Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. He constructs story programs on a wide range of themes for different audiences. He is a resident storyteller at the St. Joan of Arc Summer Camps, with a different country each year (past years have included Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Mexico. Ireland, Russia and Sweden). He co-founded and coordinates a locally based Asian Storytellers Alliance. He is a storyteller at the annual Irish Festival, on Harriet island. His storytelling has included an evening on Irish Mythology and Nature for volunteers at the Tamarack Nature Center, White Bear Lake and a program to launch a current exhibition at the Scott County Historical Society in Shakopee. He also is collecting stories of refugees and immigrants for the MN History Center. Three stories of Karen refugees from Burma have been published. Three interviews of Pacific Islanders are currently in production.

Nothando Zulu

Minneapolis, MN
Phone: 612.629.5864
Email: nzulu [at] blackstorytellers.com
Website: www.blackstorytellers.com

Nothando Zulu is the director of the Black Storytellers Alliance, a non-profit 501(c)3 organization of Master Storytellers, Educators and Community Supporters which has entertained and educated audiences for the past two decades.

Vusumusi Zulu

Minneapolis, MN
Phone: 612.629.5864
Email: vzulu [at] blackstorytellers.com
Website: www.blackstorytellers.com