Patchwork: A Storytelling Guild supports and celebrates World Laughter Day. This live event is free and open to the public and will be broadcast virtually.

Registration is required. You may select a free ticket, or you can make a donation. The choice is yours! Please register at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/world-laughter-day-storytelling-extravaganza-tickets-150389770853

According to Denise McCormack, president of Patchwork,

“We are very excited to 'go bananas' for World Laughter Day with lots of fun and humorous tales. World Laughter Day celebrates laughter yoga, but it shares so many of the tenets and practices of storytelling, especially as a tool for human connection and spiritual health, that we couldn't let the opportunity to participate pass us by.

Laughter yoga by its very nature suggests fun and well-being, and a big part of the process involves play scenarios in which participants act out tiny stories to invoke physical laughter whether or not the guffaws are authentic or not. The idea is to fake it until you make it. But there is more to it than that. The entire concept is rooted in sharing a communal experience which often leads to a profound intimacy with others that emanates through the body. It's really an incredible feeling.

Of course, we plan to generate some real laughter with some truly great stories and storytelling.

Storytellers traditionally tell to live and intimate audiences, and we’re delighted to be able to bring our stories, with all of their integrity and charm, right into people’s homes as we tell them.

This really promises to be a great show, and the audience can sit back and relax and just enjoy the experience of imagining those once-upon-a-times that capture our fancies and our hearts, right from their own living rooms.”

Featured in this amazing lineup are, in alphabetical order, Ingrid Bohn, Barbara Cohen-Kligerman, Judith Heineman, Karen Maurer, Denise McCormack, Les Schaffer, and Ed Stivender.

This program is sure to delight story-lovers everywhere, and we encourage everyone to spread the word! We want to put a smile on everyone's faces.

ABOUT THE TELLERS

DENISE MCCORMACK

Denise McCormack, M.Ed., is deeply committed to sharing the history, benefits, and practices of storytelling in a broad spectrum of applications for education and community to business, health, and well-being.

Among her many roles, McCormack is president of the Patchwork Storytelling Guild, and an active member of various local and national organizations wherein storytelling and the arts play an integral role. She is also a storytelling/speaking coach and creative designer and producer for video/audio and print projects.

For more information, go to: www.denisemccormack.live or www.dmcorporatecoaching.com

KAREN MAURER

Karen Maurer is one of the best-loved storytellers in the Lehigh Valley and enjoys a remarkably storied background as a library youth services coordinator, writer, and blogger of children’s literature. She tells tales to all ages, coaches and runs Storytelling Workshops for children and teens, and writes songs for Chiles’ Play, a children’s musical duo with her brother, Dan. Maurer has engaged audiences with her storytelling for more than two decades, is a member of the LVSG board, an advisor to the Patchwork community, and a presenter and reviewer of books for middle grades and teens for area literature conferences and on her blog, booksnstories.blogspot.com.

JUDITH HEINEMAN

Judith Heineman is a storyteller, producer and teacher, who has been selected as an Illinois Humanities Council “Road Scholar” and an Illinois Arts Tour and Residency Artist. Judith’s tales travel the world: offer up Mesopotamian myths, revisit the richness of Judean lands and lore, tell of battles with cunning Greek deities, toss doses of Grimm’s grimmest into the mix, take root in wild gardens, bloom and burst into memories that compel us to retell.

BARBARA COHEN-KLIGERMAN

Barbara Cohen-Kligerman studied storytelling with Brooklyn-based author and scholar Yitzhak Buxbaum. She has told stories in several locations in New York and the Delaware Valley, including the internally televised Story Time at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

LES SCHAFFER

"I’ve always told stories –believing that a good story will get you out of just about anything, feeling that storytelling can save the world. Now that I’m solidly an octogenarian, these values are even more critical for me.

Most of my stories are biographical, even the folk and fairy tales. And, I want to encourage each of my listeners, to create, cherish and pass their own stories along to the generations that follow us.

I tell, teach and listen to stories in a variety of settings. Here in Richmond VA, I lead and coach the Story Warriors, a youth storytelling group. I‘ve been teaching storytelling and related topics to Senior Citizens at our local LifeLong Learning Center for 20 years. Judith Onesty and I teach Basic and Family Storytelling Classes.

I tell at regional Story Slams and co-host a slam for Older Tellers A co-founder of Richmond’s Tell Tale Hearts Storyteller’s Theater, TwoTellersTelling Tandem Storytellers, I’m a current Board member of the Virginia Storyteller's Association (VASA). I’ve presented workshops, one-man and tandem-telling shows at Storytelling Conferences around the country.

A story-listener recently said that my telling is “…like scenes from a Christopher Walken movie."" I think that was a compliment. "

ED STIVENDER

Ed Stivender, a self-described 'Daydreamer moonlighting as a Storyteller' has been entertaining audiences around the globe since his Jonesborough debut in 1980. Dubbed "The Robin Williams of Storytelling" by The Miami Herald, and "The Clown Prince of Storytelling" by Festival Founder Jimmy Neil Smith, he is well known for the mixture of wit and whimsy that earned him the NAPPS Circle of Excellence Award in 1996. Author of "Raised Catholic - (Can You Tell?)" he is available for custom Zoom parties and coaching. This season he will be found on the line-ups for the Timpanogos, Jonesborough, Weber State (Utah), and Azalea (Georgia) Festivals.

INGRID BOHN

Ingrid entertains people in story and song and has been active in theater productions for over 30 years.

She is an Interactive Theater and Storytelling artist who shares traditional folktales, fairy tales, and literary stories from all over the world and brings to life multifaceted characters whose unique personalities aid in the cultural understanding.

Ingrid encourages role playing and audience participation and is a proud member of the Lehigh Valley and Patchwork Storytelling Guilds.

Registration is required. You may select a free ticket, or you can make a donation. The choice is yours! Please register at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/world-laughter-day-storytelling-extravaganza-tickets-150389770853

The Women's Coalition for Empowerment Inc.

presentsSistahs AttuneSpring Concert 2021Jazz * R&B * Soul * GospelFeaturing the voices. of: Shekhinah B., Michelle Ray, Ella Gahnt, and Monica Fleurette Aaron Graves: Musical Accompaniment 

Premiering at https://youtu.be/J_A8pNjd2BI on The Rotunda's YouTube channel at 7pm on May 5. Just go to the link at that time and you'll see the video! There will also be a chat box so that you can chat with fellow audience members as well as the artists, in real time. No registration needed. 

Sistahs Attune is a project under the umbrella of The Women’s Coalition for Empowerment, Inc., incorporating a musically eclectic women’s vocal collective of emerging freelance vocal artists spanning genres connected to soulful music striving towards improving their economic and employable power within the arts. Sistahs Attune increases opportunities for art employment, merges the gap between art and commerce while increasing culturally relevant platforms for Afro-Centric music and expression.

The program includes live musical performances, workshops, and art-related initiatives to increase women’s economic empowerment. Sistahs Attune programming is supported in part by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.

Suggested donation for the performance is $15 but anyone can watch for free on YouTube, of course! If you can make a donation, you have some options!

CashAPP: $TheWCEIncPaypal and Google Pay: Info@TheWCE.orgVenmo: Venmo.com/TheWCE 

Musicians from Variant 6 will perform drone and early music inspired vocal music.

Bowerbird is pleased to present Liminal States, a new series of late night, live streamed concerts intended to be listened to as you fall asleep. Aiming to center and calm, the musicians will seek to lead listeners to that magic space between awake and asleep. Tune in and bliss out. 

Admission to this online event is Free / Pay What You Wish. REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED. Please register at https://bowerbird.ticketleap.com/variant-6-liminal-states/. SPACE IS LIMITED. A link will be sent to you the day of the event. The performance will start at 10pm Eastern Time and will run approximately 45 mins.

This event is part of the Liminal States Series

About the artist: Variant 6 is a virtuosic vocal sextet that explores and advances the art of chamber music in the twenty-first century. The ensemble’s work includes concertizing throughout the United States, commissioning substantial new works, collaborating closely with other ensembles, and educating a new generation of singers and composers. Variant 6 believes that the process of compromise achieved from the diversity of opinion and specialty of its six individual artists can create deeply impactful experiences for its audiences, collaborators, and students.

More performances in the Liminal States Series: 

MARILYN NONKEN performs FELDMAN 

Wed, January 20 at 11pm

JEFF ZEIGLER

Sun, January 31 at 10pm

LARAAJI

Sun. February 14 at 10pm

LAURA BAIRD

Thu, February 25 at 10pm

TATSUYA NAKATANI

Wed, March 10 at 11pm

MARY LATTIMORE

Thu, March 25 at 11pm

VARIANT 6

Thu, May 6 at 10pm

Vision Driven Artists (VDA) Workshops are free and/or low-cost capacity-building workshops for self-producing artists/musicians, arts organization staff, and event curators in all disciplines. Attendees learn new skills, gain new resources, and meet and connect with other local artists.

***All workshops will be held online until further notice. All workshops in the series are FREE and OPEN to the public. However, you must pre-register to receive a link to the webinar. 

VDA: Social Media & Marketing

Facilitated by Brittnie Knight

- Identify marketing techniques for building and keeping an audience

- Talk about the advantages of using various social media channels

- Troubleshoot issues with audience development that you may have had in the past

***PLEASE NOTE***

WE WILL BE RECORDING THIS EVENT

It will be a much more successful event if you join us in person, so don't let that keep you away from the computer. Your input and questions are valuable!

Please register at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/vda-social-media-marketing-tickets-136327849267?fbclid=IwAR3UAwN1TJssBCz-uhNZGRyW7AxRXjm4xuOuiEdZHXnSNHIpWfwJeAJxWPw

A Collaborative Sculpture Project to Commemorate Those Lost by the Coronavirus Pandemic

Join 100,000 Folds in honoring and mourning COVID-19 victims through origami. This community sculpture project is folding 100,000 pieces of paper - one for each of the first 100,000 deaths in the United States from the pandemic. During this event, gather virtually with artist Joanna Hutchinson to learn to make the folded pieces, and build community while folding with others. The folded paper units will be assembled into larger sculptures to be displayed in Philadelphia upon completion, when it is safe to do so. Participants in this online folding session will get a sneak preview of some of the plans for the final sculpture. Participants will receive a package of 50 custom cut sheets of paper to fold during this event, sent to the mailing address provided through the USPS. After the event, participants are asked to send their folded work to the artist by USPS. This online event requires students to have a device to join the class with reliable internet access. If you are interested in participating in the project, but not the online event, you can sign up to work independently at 100thousandfolds.com. 

About the Instructor

Based in West Philly, Joanna Hutchinson is a part-time sculptor, avid crafter, and enjoys a career in finance. She likes bringing people together: for friendship, community, and art making. 100,000 Folds is a way for the artist, and others, to mourn and reflect around the coronavirus crisis.

Cost

This is a free event, but donations are welcome. All donations will go to support PHL Covid-19 Fund, supporting community efforts to help those directly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Registration is required in order to receive the Zoom link. Please register HERE

This event has been cancelled due to circumstances beyond our control.

Ask A Sex Abuse Survivor play reading + Q and A

An interactive virtual reading of survivor Michael Broussard's play "Ask A Sex Abuse Survivor". Attendees will have opportunities to ask questions and make comments throughout the presentation.

Registration is required to receive the Zoom link. Tickets are Pay What You Can (FREE to $10) and you can get them HERE

Psychologist Margaret D. Sayers called the presentation “an excellent illustration of the healing power of art and community” . Survivor and New England Director of SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests) Dave O’Regan said, “I came away from the performance uplifted, braver, and will always remember Michael’s courage and draw strength from it when needed in my own life.” Clinical Psychologist Dr. Elizabeth Dale Blair said, “As a psychologist who treats survivors of childhood sexual abuse, I would highly recommend this show to anyone who struggles with the emotional aftermath of these traumas”.

This event has been cancelled due to circumstances beyond our control.

THE AMBITRON is an event coming out of the quarantine haze, a document of the moment of birth, the witnessing of eclectic sci-fi sights and sounds of the city emerging around us as we enter the world in a new age.

With THE AMBITRON, Alex Smith (@alexoteric/The Afterverse) presents a reader, a visual artist, and a sound programmer, live via stream, telling tales of fantasy and science-fiction, showing other’d art as visual backdrop, all scored by a musician with designs towards liberation. Join the Ambitron and be immersed.

Alex Jennings http://www.alexjennings.net/

Kara Mshinda https://www.karamshinda.com/

Savan DePaul http://savandepaul.bandcamp.com

hosted by Alex Smith @alexoteric

There are TWO ways to attend this virtual event. One is to join us on Zoom. Registration is required to receive the Zoom link. Please register at: eventbrite.com/e/the-ambitron-registration-156354702123

The other way to attend is by catching the livestream at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFRGGo0caS8. Registration is not required to watch on YouTube.

donations welcome. Venmo: @Alexoteric venmo or cashapp: $Alexoteric