Spring / Summer 2015 Storytelling Performance Calendar

What’s Up Next! Save the Date! Denise Valentine @ Philadelphia Folklore Project – photo by Diane Macklin

Spring / Summer 2015 May 16, 3 PM – 4:30 PM WHERE DOES MY STORY BEGIN?       Philadelphia Folklore Project 735 South 50th Street Philadelphia, PA 19143 P: 215.726.1106 Storyteller Denise Valentine has been on a journey to unravel the complicated threads of her family’s history, examining tales told generation-to-generation, collecting DNA evidence and written records. Come listen to Denise recount her adventures looking for her family’s place in the story of slavery and freedom in Columbia, South Carolina, home of her paternal ancestors. This program is presented by Linda Goss and made possible by Friends of the Artists. http://www.folkloreproject.org MAY 18th 5:30 – 8:30PM FAMILY LITERACY NIGHT Southeast Delco School District 1560 Delmar Drive, Folcroft, PA  19032 Sharon Hill School May 19th, 8:00am – 3:00pm Professional Collaboration at Central High School       2015 #CHScollab Central High School 1700 W Olney Ave, Philadelphia, PA Look for Denise Valentine in Session 1 Workshop – 9:00-10:00AM – Historytelling – Beyond the Facts and Figures.    A workshop for students, parents and educators combining archival research, African American oral history and folklore for a performance- centered conception and interpretation of historical events. Registration is free and open to all School District of Philadelphia educators. Order tickets via Eventbrite. Denise Valentine, Storyteller – http://www.denisevalentine.com MAY 21, 11:00 AM The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Seacrest Studios @ CHOP 34th Street and Civic Center Blvd. Philadelphia, PA 19104 May 23rd, 2:00 – 2:30PM – Storytelling workshop at Art Sanctuary Philadelphia Literary & Arts Conference, part of      Art Sanctuary’s 31st Annual Celebration of Black Writing Festival May 1 – 31, 2015 Art Sanctuary’s Celebration of Black Writing Festival | May 1 – 31, 2015 | Temple University Ritter Hall & Annex (Cecil B. Moore Avenue at Montgomery Avenue). More than 50 workshops, performances and sessions to choose from, featuring some of the regions most talented authors and artists, INCLUDING a youth track! Follow #CBW31 on Twitter. May 27, 2015 @ 6:00PM Great Escapes! Mill Memorial Library 495 East Main Street Nanticoke, PA 18634 A Program of The Pennsylvania Humanities Council June 7, 2015, 7:00 PM  Reaching for Resonance in Black & White Two Families, Six Generations in America Denise Valentine & Bill Mettler: Master Storytellers Weave Their Craft A Companion show to My Racial Ignorance, by artist Bonnie Mettler on Exhibition at Historic St. Georges United Methodist Church 235 N. 4th St. Philadelphia, PA  19106 www.historicstgeorges.org Emmett Till | Selected Artwork by Bonnie Mettler in My Racial Ignorance JUNE 20th, 2:00 PM The Story Grove @ 2015 CLEARWATER GREAT RIVER FESTIVAL!  Clearwater’s Great Hudson River Revival (aka “the Clearwater Festival”) Croton Point Park Croton-on-Hudson, NY 10520  (Photo credit Augusto F. Menezes) The Clearwater is the environmental organization founded by Pete Seeger, with the main purpose of cleaning up the Hudson River. Clearwater’s flagship event, the Clearwater’s Great Hudson River Revival (aka “the Clearwater Festival”) Saturday, June 20 and 21, on the east bank of the Hudson River, Croton Point Park in Croton-on-Hudson, Westchester County, NY., is a large folk music and storytelling festival held each year on Father’s Day weekend. Several stages, crafts and food vendors, and the river itself, create a lovely weekend for the 10,000 + attendees to the festival. You can see more details about the festival at www.clearwaterfestival.org/

A Look Back! In the News! History and Reconstruction In a project funded by the Pew Center for Arts and Heritage, the storyteller collaborated with historian Phillip Seitz and Reconstruction Inc., a grass-roots group (William Goldsby, chair) that supports returning citizens, youth at risk and lifetime prisoners, to ask the question: how can deep knowledge of history change lives? Click to Read more about what I’ve been up to in the world of storytelling… Denise Valentine, Professional Storyteller, Teaching Artist, Public Speaker, Historical Performer, Consultant

A Look Ahead! On June 2, each year, the Philadelphia Middle Passage Ceremony & Port Marker Project (PhillyMPC) will honor our ancestors and commemorate the nearly 2 million Africans who perished in the Middle Passage.  *Ancestral Remembrance Day, June 2nd ​Research identifying all ports of entry for Africans during the 350 years of the transatlantic human trade* identifies the Port of Philadelphia on the Delaware River as one of more than 175 Middle Passage ports in 50 nations of North, Central, and South America, the Caribbean, and Europe.PhillyMPC’s mission is to gather support for the application and installation of a historical marker in their memory. Read more …