Celebrating Area IV- the Port’s Life

Celebrate Area IV on Wednesday, February 29, 2012 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. Free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served Cambridge City Hall 795 Massachusetts Avenue Sullivan Chamber, 2nd floor

Master of Ceremonies Pastor Lorraine A. Thornhill will preside and  Stories from the Neighbors will be facilitated by Norah Dooley. This event will highlight The Port’s diversity and cultural vibrancy. Featuring the talented Fletcher-Maynard Academy Choir and a dance performance by the L.I.G.H.T. Steppers of First Holiness Church. Stories about experiences of life in the Port will be shared through the perspectives and voices of neighborhood residents facilitated by Norah Dooley, a regional storyteller, children’s author and spoken word performer.

First Washington Street block party - July, 1989

Norah became a storyteller, educator, critically acclaimed  children’ s author while living in Area 4. She and her family of 4 daughters and husband Robert were in on the first Washington Street block parties which inspired her series of picture books about her neighbors  " Everybody Cooks Rice, Everybody Bakes Bread et.als" Norah is co-founder of massmouth.com and the Greater Boston Story Slam series, project director of the StoriesLive® curriculum, teaching high school students to tell their stories, Norah has been connecting people to their stories to help connect people to each other, for over 20 years. She began telling stories at Lesley University an first performed in the Fletcher After School program thanks to the support and mentoring of Roz Shoy. Her first public gig as a storyteller was at the Cambridge River Festival in 1991. She also credits her daughters with the impetus to tell stories by never "going easy into that goodnight".

The National Storytelling Network (NSN) and StoryStream Cambridge's innovative StoryTrades project co-sponsors the storytelling segment of the evening. StoryTrades ("an exchange of stories by real people") is a series of informal but focused events, designed to bring together residents, people who work in Cambridge, and business owners to share personal stories on a variety of announced themes.

City of Cambridge Employees’ Committee on Diversity

StoryStream at Fresh Pond Day

Storyteller Doria Hughes, one of the co-founders of massmouth, told stories of butterflies, mice and Finn McCool in the StoryStream tent at Fresh Pond Day on Saturday, May 7.  As children and adults came to explore the information tables and craft activities, we invited them to hear stories (and also to enjoy nature-oriented books from the library).  Children sat on a blanket and told Doria about birds and other animals and she filled their imaginations with good stories.  There was one young child who just decided to wander…but kept coming back with dandelion bouquets for Doria. 

Jason Weeks, Executive Director of the Cambridge Arts Council, connected StoryStream to the celebration held by the Water Treatment Facility along the shores of Fresh Pond. Thanks to Jason, Deb Albenberg of the Water Department, Doria and Massmouth!

High School Scholarship Story Slam April 30th, 2011

FROM WITNESSING DEATH TO LIVING WITH A FAT HEAD: TEENS TELL THEIR STORIES AT THE CAMBRIDGE PUBLIC LIBRARY

 

When high school students Maho (Lynn Classical High School), who is orginally from Bosnia,  or Sandy (Boston Latin Academy), from Mattapan, told their stories, the air was taut with the energy and attention their peers were sending them.

The two students are as different as can be. Teachers said they were surprised to see Maho step up to the mic -- he has a stutter, they said, but it was not at all evident in his performance. Sandy is an award-winning slam poet and practiced performer, but the raw memory of her story caused her to pause for composure.

Theirs are just two of the stories we will hear in the StoriesLive® Scholarship High School Slam on April 30th, starting at 2:30 PM in the auditorium of Cambridge's Main Library, 449 Broadway. This event is free and open to the public,  thanks to support from StoryStream.  In this final competition, more than a dozen teens will be telling stories based on their real life adventures. The stories are poignant, funny, sad and silly.  In one the echo of a younger brother's voice pulls the speaker from the brink of suicide.  In another, the teller attributes his big head to getting in trouble with a nun.   

These stories have been brought forth by StoriesLive®,  a curriculum-based program designed by the non-profit organization massmouth, inc. to teach vital oral presentation skills and empower teens to tell their stories.  MassHumanities partially funded the program this year based on its innovative approach. Teachers and administrators value this program for developing skills needed for the college and job application process.  Norah Dooley, project director and curriculum developer of the lesson plans says, "Students need to know and tell their own stories." And massmouth cofounder Andrea Lovett agrees, adding, “Telling and listening to stories helps to build a culture of respect and compassion.”

 Nicolette Heavey, project co-director, noted that student feedback has consistently proven that the program builds common bonds and a greater sense of community within the classroom.  Typical student comments sounded like this: “I really liked hearing other people’s stories and getting to know their feelings.”  The massmouth storyteller-educators have heard over 1200 personal stories from high school juniors and seniors in Abington, Andover, Boston Latin Academy, Everett, Lynn Classical, and Newburyport high schools.  The best of the stories heard in the classroom moved on to performance in front of their high school audience.  The best of each high school will compete at the Cambridge Public Library for their share of $5000 in scholarship cash. 

massmouth, inc is a 501c3 with a mission to promote the timeless art of storytelling in the 21^st century via social media, education and performance.  Videos of the assemblies, in-class lessons and final performances can be viewed at http://massmouth.org/storieslive/.   

1st Story Trade at Cambridge Historical Society

1st Story Trade at Cambridge Historical Society 

                                      by Norah Dooley of massmouth

(left) In the 70s and 80s this participant was a bartender at Ryles. She had great stories

Last night Andrea Lovett and I facilitated our first StoryTrade.  FOOD FOR THOUGHT: A STORIED WALK DOWN CAMBRIDGE'S CULINARY LANES PAST AND PRESENT.

We met at the The Hooper-Lee-Nichols House 159 Brattle St., Cambridge, MA  but we traveled in story time and moved from Zum-Zums to Grendls, to the WurstHaus, to the Spaghetti Factory, to Chez Jean's and the Tavern on the Square. We heard stories that ranged from poignantly personal to luscious reminiscences of food  found, bought, prepared, shared, served and savored in Cambridge. We spoke of food foraged and who cooked and ate what during the Blizzard of 1978. We heard about neighbors' recipes and neighborhood traditions.

Thanks to Gavin Kleespies and the Cambridge Historical Society for gracious hosting and the National Storytelling Network (NSN)  for their funding of this exciting initiative.  Daryl Mark said, "It was a thoroughly enjoyable time and I think that everyone left full of memories and stories to share."

StoryTrades are small gatherings, facilitated by a professional storyteller, in which participants share memories focused on a theme that is important to them and the host group. By coming together and sharing stories in a group, we hope to improve our own stories and learn more about the process of telling stories and share some of Cambridge’s culture.

CHS director, Gavin Kleespies listens as a participant shares her story

Andrea Lovett( right) and Norah Dooley (4th from right) from masssmouth

One participant ( below)  told about serving potato leek soup to Julia Child and she brought a photo of that exact moment in time. She was a volunteer at WGBH at the time and had enjoyed cooking potato leek soup from Julia Child's cookbook for her family for years so it was a moment of genuine connection for her.

Regina shared her great story about cooking for Julia Child.

FINDING OUR VOICES: NEIGHBORHOOD STORYTELLING CIRCLES

      Thanks to a grant from the Cambridge Arts Council and the Massachusetts Cultural Council, StoryStream will present a new spring program, FINDING OUR VOICES, a pilot project to create monthly neighborhood storytelling gatherings for immigrant residents of Cambridge. Participants will share folktales from their cultures as well as their personal stories. 

"FOOD FOR THOUGHT" at Cambridge Historical Society

StoryStream and the Cambridge Historical Society will offer the first program in the new StoryTrades series: FOOD FOR THOUGHT: A STORIED WALK DOWN CAMBRIDGE'S CULINARY LANES PAST AND PRESENT.

When: Wednesday, February 23, 6:00-8:00 pm 

Did you know Julia Child?  Maybe you met a neighbor of hers?  Do you remember the Hungry Mama Restaurant?  One Potato, Two Potato?  Come share those stories and other memories of Cambridge's edible past at a "storytrade." StoryTrades are small gatherings, facilitated by a professional storyteller, in which participants share memories focused on a theme that is important to them and the host group. By coming together and sharing stories in a group, we hope to improve our own stories and learn more about the process of telling stories and share some of Cambridge’s culinary culture.

This is a free program, although space is limited and registration is required.   To sign up, please send your name and contact info to rsvp@cambridgehistory.org or call 617-547-4252. 

StoryTrades are funded in part by a Year of the Regions Grant from the National Storytelling Network.

"Storytelling 101"

Our Advisory Board colleague from massmouth, Norah Dooley, will be offering a storytelling class at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education for four Thursdays, 6:00-7:30pm, beginning on February 24:

We all have a story to tell. And from NPR programs like "Story Corps" to live stories at massmouth story slams in Boston, personal stories are filling venues and imaginations everywhere. Do you wish you could tell your story? Storyteller Norah Dooley's workshop will focus on story games and oral exercises to find your stories and help you craft a compelling oral, personal narrative and perform it. Handouts, resources, and worksheets will be provided. Class members are invited to tell at monthly massmouth open mics or story slams in the fall/winter. Limited to 12.

Norah's widely acclaimed picture books, Everybody Cooks Rice, Everybody Bakes Bread, Everybody Serves Soup and Everybody Brings Noodles, (Carolrhoda Books @ lernerbooks.com) are four titles in a series about her former neighborhood in Cambridge, MA. She has published six storytelling CDs, and presents in schools, libraries, and teacher's conferences. Norah has performed as a featured storyteller in the Christmas and Spring Revels in Cambridge and Boston MA, the Cambridge River Festival, Newport Folk Festival, Albany NY River Festival, 3 Apples Storytelling Festival, MA, and at the Clearwater Festival.
Web Site: www.norahdooley.com