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Schedule of Events How to Book Laura for Perf. Laura's Books & Audios Home Page
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| What
is it like to be a professional storyteller? What are the storyteller's
real concerns and responsibilities to the audience ? What do kids want
to hear in these difficult times? What's it like to "think on your
feet?
What story comes next?
Laura Simms' journal entries take you behind the scenes. Read
Laura's other Oct.
24, 2001 May, 2002 Read
Laura's essays
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 Poland, July 2006THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL JEWISH STORYTELLING FESTIVAL “For ten days, Muriel Bloch and I traveled telling stories to seven cities in Poland. It was an intense and magnificent journey. We were surprised over and over by the numbers of people that appeared to hear the stories and stayed for hours speaking to us about their memories of Jews, their longing to heal a deep wound in the country, and to learn about the culture that flourished in Poland before the Holocaust. It was deeply moving to represent Jewish culture and to bring it alive in a non-threatening way. “There were highlights: going to Chelm, which exists! Chelm is the ultimate symbol of Jewish wisdom – a literary city of fools made famous by zany tales of inverted wisdom and deep spiritual meaning. The actual Chelm was a charming city. Disturbing little exists from the Jewish past, and we were saddened to see that the only surviving synagogue (a beautiful building) was turned into a restaurant. There is a small NGO that is working to buy it and we promised to return and help them fund raise. “We visited Lumza, the city of my grandmother, and had an outdoor concert with several hundred people who sat with us as the sun went down, telling us about their memories and asking us to return. And, the last concert was in an ancient spa site where over 300 people attended. We were accompanied by elderly folk musicians, playing drum and accordion in the manner of northern Polish Jews. Afterwards many came up and told stories, sang ballads and danced. It was all conjured by Michal Malinowski and his invisible but flourishing Storytelling Museum in the town of Konstantini, outside of Warsaw. “Muriel and I will return next year to train young storytellers and to continue to bring Jewish stories as needed to shine a light on what is hidden and not spoken of.... It is hard to even put into words what this all felt like.” --Laura |
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