Robin Bady Robin Bady celebrates the art of the story with her dynamic, interactive storytelling performances, using voice, body, and music. Her repertoire includes folktales and fairytales from around the world, New York stories, personal tales, and Victorian fairytales. She performs at theaters, festivals, schools, museums and libraries for audiences of all ages and sizes. Bady has worked on collaborative theater projects with adults and young people in New York and Chicago and has worked with the Brooklyn Academy of Music as a teaching artist. Bady develops and teaches storytelling/theater residencies through ArtsConnection, the Queens Library, and Project Arts, and is storyteller in residence at PS 230 in Brooklyn. Eleni Constantelos Eleni Constantelos has been performing for children and adults for over twenty years. Working in diverse media and settings she has collaborated with museums, libraries, zoos, parks, festivals, publishers, radio stations, and film and video production companies. In a school setting, she has presented a wide variety of storytelling and story theater workshops, creating customized residencies to suit the specific needs of each class. She has performed for groups ranging in age from pre-school to graduate students, and ranging in size from individual classes to school assemblies.  A trained actress, Ms. Constantelos came to storytelling from theater. She earned her B.A. in English Literature from Colgate University. Freestyle Repertory Theater Since its founding in 1983, Freestyle Repertory Theatre has been one of New York's most popular improvisational theatre companies. It is a not-for-profit theatre company of 20 professional actors who have re-introduced and promoted the art of improvisation. Based in New York City, Freestyle Rep has brought its unique and hilarious improvisational performances to hundreds of schools in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Company members also conduct workshops and long-term theatre and creative writing residencies in schools. The company is particularly proud of its collaborations with classroom teachers in creating lesson plans and developing skills to make the arts an important part of children's education. They perform off Broadway both in the fall and in the spring on a schedule of rotating repertory with several unique shows. www.echonyc.com/~freestyle Bobby Gonzalez Bobby Gonzalez is a Native American storyteller, poet, and lecturer. His repertoire includes indigenous tales from North, South, and Central America and the Caribbean. He also conducts slide shows on Native history and culture, one of which focuses on the art of the Taino people. Mr. Gonzalez authored a chapbook of poetry The Puerto Rican Indian Wars: Part Two. He has produced Native poetry programs at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe and the Jamaica Arts Center. Mr. Gonzalez is the event coordinator and master of ceremonies for the Native Harvest Festival held every Fall in Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, New York. Tammy Hall As an African-American and native of Clarksville, Tennessee, storyteller Tammy Hall draws from her Southern black rural heritage to deliver unforgettable tales. Listening to wonderful stories at the foot of her first and most memorable storyteller, her father, has had a profound effect on her life. As an inner city school teacher, the uniqueness of each of her students has inspired her writing and telling. As a professional clown, Ms. Hall created the character Funke Mama FoFo. Her whimsical jokes, corny songs, and ecstatic laughter cross all cultures and keep the action going. Ms. Halls' travels to Europe and the Caribbean also enhance her storytelling.
			Linda Humes Actress/storyteller Linda H. Humes holds a masters of arts administration from New York University. She is the founder and artistic director of Yaffa Cultural Arts Inc., a non-profit organization based in New York City that specializes in multicultural folk arts. As a performer, Ms. Humes has been one of the Melmanettes in the Larry Bud Melman show and has many commercial and industrial film credits. Feature film credits include The Cotton Club, Desperately Seeking Susan, and Malcom X. She has also been the entertainment reporter for PM magazine. Ms. Humes performs nationally and internationally as The Urban Griot (French term for storyteller) and facilitates workshops for children and adults. Theresa Linnihan Theresa Linnihan was reared in the Minneapolis Children's Theatre Company. She was artist-in-residence of a 500-acre park and artistic director of Theatre in the Open in Massachusetts creating original interpretations of myths and fairy tales in the great outdoors. She has also done stints with In The Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre and with Bread and Puppet. Since moving to Brooklyn in 1996, she has designed, built puppets and sets and directed shows at Henry Street Settlement House. Theresa is a partner of The Puppeteers Cooperative doing workshops for children at the Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors Festival. For the Czechoslovak American Marionette Theatre (based in NYC), she was an original case member of Hamlet at the Vineyard Theatre, the Production Manager for Golem at the Jim Henson International Puppet Theatre Festival, Prince in Rusalka at La MaMa, an on tour to Bursa, Turkey, and in Faust at La MaMa. Maxine Maxwell Storyteller and actress Maxine Maxwell is a native of St. Louis, Missouri and a graduate of Webster University Conservatory of Theatre Arts. For the past ten years, she has been touring nationally with her self-produced, one-woman shows Echos of the Past, I Can Feel it In My Bones, and, most recently, Voices of Hope. Her past credits include Funnyhouse of a Negro, The Trojan Women of Euripides, the national tour of For Colored Girls Who Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf, and World Turning, a Bluegrass piece on the history of the banjo featuring banjoist Tony Trischka. Ellen Melamed Ellen Melamed holds an M.A. in theatre education from Columbia University. Ms. Melamed has taught high school and college English and drama and is a certified Alexander Technique teacher in private practice. In 1983, Ms. Melamed created the Playwriting Project to address the need for a playwriting program for public schools and to provide students and teachers with a structured approach to understanding and creating dramatic writing. The Project teaches a step-by-step program that is accessible to students in grades 3-12, regardless of academic ability, and guides teachers by illustrating basic tenets of plot development, character and scene summaries, set and costume designs, and dialogue writing in draft and revised form. Felix Pitre Actor/writer Felix Pitre, was born in Cataño, Puerto Rico and raised in Brooklyn and Queens. He attended the High School For The Performing Arts and Hofstra University. As an actor he has worked in every medium including commercials, television, theatre, and film. He has performed his bilingual program, Stories and Songs of Latin America (1974) throughout the United States at a number of venues including The Kennedy Center and the Smithsonian. He returned to the Smithsonian in 1993 with a commissioned piece, From Jibaros to Juan Bobo, Folk Tales of Puerto Rico. Other programs include, The Caribbean and Columbus, More to the Story, a look at the discovery from a native Puerto Rican's point of view and Animal Tales, learning lessons from humorous animal stories and songs while exploring our need to care for wildlife and the environment. Ronald Sopyla Ron Sopyla has given performances and workshops throughout the eastern United States in schools, colleges, libraries, museums. His theatrical performances include Off Broadway and Off-Off Broadway venues, regional repertory companies, and touring productions. His performances are based on traditional folktales, fairytales, fables, and myths from world cultures, and feature a combination of storytelling, shadow puppetry, and black light puppetry. Mr. Sopyla received a Masters in Education from New York University and is a certified Montessori teacher. He taught pre-kindergarten through first grade for 13 years. Mr. Sopyla has also designed the education program for the Gold Mountain Institute for Traditional Shadow Theater, lectured at Bank Street College, and taught courses for the United Federation of Teachers. Theatre Déja Theatre Déja (formerly Mutuus Mime Theater) was formed in 1982 in Jamestown, New York. The company has done over 700 performances since then including the National Theatre in Washington, D.C. and two collaborations with the Buffalo Philharmonic. The company's Director is Mark Ophinsky who is an actor, mime, comedian, maskmaker, and writer. Theatre Déja has received five consecutive grants from The New York State Council on the Arts along with a number of grants from private foundations. Theatre Déja offers workshops for children and adults, tailored to fit the needs of each age group. The company also works with students with special needs, such as the deaf, gifted and talented, and mentally and physically handicapped.