Debut: A Fusion of Storytelling and Play April 2022

Debut is a fusion of storytelling, story making, play, coaching, and community. Three professional storytellers will tell a story that they are debuting. This month, the talented storytellers are Karen Golden, Marilyn McPhie, and Roopa Mohan .   As it happens all the tellers are living in that great story-filled state of California.  The story they tell has never been told in public.

We believe that the first telling can be a wonderful shared experience. The motto is "There is beauty in the beginning." This is the beginning of each tellers’ stories. However, it is told with the skill of a professional storyteller so it bound to be inviting

.

Then, Story Coach (Mediator) Dr. Kevin Cordi, author of Playing with Stories: Story Crafting for Writers, Teachers, and Other Imaginative Thinkers will lead these storytellers as they play with this new story.  Kevin will use proven playful practices and audience members will experience new ways they could work with their own stories.

A little bit about the tellers:

 Karen Golden is a storyteller/musician (on saxophone, hulusi, recorder, accordion, nose flute and a variety of folkloric instruments), and award-winning recording artist. She has travelled      internationally to China, S. Korea, Hong Kong and Peru to tell stories and since Covid, she has performed virtually in over fifteen countries around the world. Her written stories have been published in eight anthology collections. For over thirty years Karen has “edutained” audiences of all ages with her tales drawn from world folktales, her own life and the lives or well-known and lesser-known characters from history, her rich imagination, and from the natural world. 

   Karen is also the Founder/ Director of Creative Learning Place. https://www.creativelearningplace.com/ a homeschool learning center founded in 2009 in Los Angeles and she is passionate about creating a paradigm shift in education.

To learn more about Karen click:

https://www.karengolden.com/

Marilyn McPhie once had to choose between cleaning bathrooms and telling stories.  She’s been a professional teller since 1985, performing in the usual – and unusual – venues across the county and beyond, She has collaborated with a classical pianist, a bagpiper, and a full orchestra; with art exhibits from William Wegman photography to ancient Chinese art to modern book arts; with a dance troupe for peace strategies.  She has led a troupe of student storytellers, has written a review column for a national newsletter, has been a judge for a national spoken-word competition and a TEDx speaker.  The past Pacific Region Director for the National Storytelling Network and President of the Storytellers of San Diego, she has presented at many regional and national conferences. She's descended from Charlemagne, pioneers, and witches, and she has a fondness for old stories with new twists.

Roopa Mohan first stepped into storytelling at San Francisco's Asian Art Museum telling folktales to school groups, around the wonderful artifacts in the galleries. She has expanded her repertoire and enjoys sharing personal narratives as well as myths and legends she heard growing up in South India. She is currently a scholar at the Chautauqua Training Institute, immersed in developing her own historical character. Roopa serves on the Board of the Storytelling Association of CA and leads a project to bring storytelling to underserved public schools. She is also an active member of Asian American Storytellers in Unity, contributing her stories to Asian American Storytopia (YouTube), an ongoing project to dispel racism and embrace diversity. She has joyfully performed at the Marsh, National Storytelling Network, Artists Standing Strong Together, Storytelling Association on CA, Better Said Than Done, Stagebridge, Six Feet Apart, Story Space, and the Asian Art Museum. 

www.roopamohan.com