Mark Babino |
A Creole Texan, born in Beaumont but now teaching in San Antonio, Texas. In recent years, he has honed his storytelling skills to a fine point and now appears regularly at storytelling events around the state, such as the Texas Storytelling Festival, the Boerne Storytelling Festival, San Antonio City Parks Ghost Stories, the San Antonio Library, and other school, civic and private events. He has been a featured storyteller at the Institute of Texan Culture events such as the Texas Folklife Festival, Texas Children's Festival, and Midwinter Tales in 1997 and 2000, and the Halloween Concert Texas Ghosts and Cucuis in 2002. In addition, he has recorded story segments for the Institute. Mark is a member of the San Antonio Storytellers Association and Tejas Storytelling Association and producer of San Antonio's TELLABRATION! |
Mary Ann Blue |
A Spanish teacher and professional storyteller from San Antonio, Texas. As a professional storyteller, she has worked in a variety of settings since 1988. In addition to being a featured teller at Storyfest numerous times, she has also been a featured teller at a number of other festivals, including the Texas Storytelling Festival in Denton, Texas. Her story "Tio Conejo and the Hurricane" has been published in several short story collections. She has also appeared as a guest storyteller on the PBS television show Barney and Friends. Mary Ann has worked in education for thirty years, teaching children from pre-school to high school. Presently, she teaches Spanish at the Lower School at St. Mary's Hall in San Antonio and coaches youth storytellers, who have received state and national recognition, including two National Torchbearers. |
DeCee Cornish
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Decee Cornish, The "Urban Griot"
During a storytelling session Decee will help and encourage your students to see and understand the scope of historical events and introduce them to the people, the places, and the cultures, that shaped this great country and the world we live in. For over a decade his stories have informed, entertained, and enlightened, students of all ages from Kindergarden to High School. A multi-cultural storyteller with programs that include heroes, villains, tall tales, legends, fantasy, mythology, even things that go "bump in the night".
Performing in schools, libraries, parks and at festivals, special events and more.
An award winning storyteller. Decee has traveled internationally to gather his stories. He has returned to share them and his experiences with people of all ages.
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Donna Ingham
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Donna Ingham, an award winning author and performer of the spoken word from Spicewood, Texas, now has 28 of her favorite Texas tales collected in a book, Tales with a Texas Twist (2005). Her two newest books about Texas are 1001 Greatest Things Ever Said about Texas (2006) and You Know You’re in Texas When (2007). A retired English professor turned author and storyteller, Donna has spent over 30 years as a writer and teacher of writing and over 12 years performing as a professional storyteller. Featured on the Exchange Place stage at the National Storytelling Festival in 2003, she has also performed at every major storytelling and folk festival in her home state and in several other states and in Europe. She is the 2007 recipient of the John Henry Faulk Award for “outstanding contributions to the art of storytelling.” In her work, she takes the ancient art of storytelling and gives it a Texas twist with a unique repertoire of tales drawn from folklore and history, particularly that from her own Texas roots; from personal narratives she’s created about growing up an only child (and so did her sister); and from myths, legends, and fairy tales she has Texanized and made truly her own. She also was the very first winner of the Texas State Liars’ Contest © at Storyfest. |
Larry Thompson
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Larry Thompson has been in front of audiences for 25 years. Whether in storytelling performances for adults and children, providing emcee services for indoor and outdoor events, or providing technical and soft skill training, Larry is at home helping the audience laugh, learn, and let loose. He has told stories on mountain tops and in valleys from New Mexico to South Carolina and many large and small places in between. Larry tells cowboy tales, folk tales, and home-grown tales and guarantees to make the audience smile. He has recorded two compact discs with old and new favorite stories and has published a book of his own campfire stories. His newest book, Wild West—Plastic Cowboys and Indians Have Feelings Too, is a collection of western stories. He is past president of the San Antonio Storytelling Association. |
Consuelo Samarripa |
Consuelo Samarripa, a second generation Texan born in the West side barrios of San Antonio, is a storyteller, folklorist, author, performing artist, and speaker. She founded, produced, and directed the first Tejas Hispanic Storytelling Concert and later the Festivals under the auspices of the Texas Commission on the Arts and The City of Austin Cultural Connections Program. She has been on the Mid-America Arts Alliance, which spans through Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, and Arkansas. Since 2001, Consuelo has been selected to the Texas Commission on the Arts Touring Roster. Hyde Park’s Theater’s state manager and crew selected “Just Like Any Kid,” written and presented by Consuelo, as one of five special performances chosen for Austin’s Frontera Fest’s “Best of the Fest-Wild Card Night.” Consuelo loves to share the richness of her Mexican culture and her primary language, Spanish, using her own unique bilingual blends. |
Ellouise Schoettler
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Maryland storyteller and North Carolina native Ellouise Schoettler is 20-year professional storytelling veteran. She calls herself an “old-time
Southern storyteller,” just like the family storytellers she grew up listening to on her grandmother’s front porch in Charlotte. Except... Ellouise is an i-phone-toting Grandma and a blogger who uses Facebook and Twitter to connect with her fans and other storytellers, as well as her grandchildren. If you wonder how storytellers develop programs, take a closer look at Ellouisestory.blogspot.com, the blog Ellouise has written for six years. Her daily musings often make their way into her longer programs.
Ellouise performs original and traditional stories for adult, family and youth audiences at various venues, including festivals, colleges and libraries. In July 2011 she premiered a new one-woman show at the Capital Fringe, Washington, DC. A selected list of festival venues where Ellouise has appeared includes 2011 and 2010 DC Capital Fringe (Washington DC) • Exchange Place Stage, Toe River Storytelling Festival, Spruce Pine, NC, Exchange Place Stage, 2009 National Storytelling Festival (Jonesboro, TN• Williamsburg Storytelling Festival (Williamsburg, VA) • Lehigh Valley Storytelling Festival (Bethlehem, PA) • Grand Rivers Storytelling Festival (Grand Rivers, KY) • 2010, 2008,2007 The Rogue Festival (Fresno, CA). |
