EveryBODY Has a Story

As a solo performer and Artistic Director of Tellin’ Tales Theatre, an organization dedicated to shattering the barriers between the disabled and able-bodied worlds through the power of storytelling, I have been telling my stories at various venues for over twenty years. Though Chicago has a rich story community, there is a lack of performers and stories that are representative of people with disabilities. I know that there are great stories out there from people who have not had the opportunity to tell them due to inaccessible spaces, financial and transportation constraints, or lack of a peer mentor.

Through past teaching experiences, I am equipped to help participants draw out their stories and figure out ways to perform them, whether the performers are blind, deaf, have a mental or developmental disability, or get around in a wheelchair or on crutches. In 2012, I taught a workshop through Bodies of Work, a network of artists and organizations whose art illuminates the disability experience. The result was a beautiful sharing of stories that sometimes touched on disability and sometimes did not. The group worked as a team to help each other refine their stories, and the workshop later culminated in a beautiful performance at Access Living and Frontier Theatre.  I learned a lot by teaching this workshop and I want to use these lessons to help guide participants to go deeper within themselves and to mine richer stories. This experience would help me strengthen my teaching skills and help me develop new ways to perform my own stories. I have always found that every time I teach, I learn so much from my students. I am re-inspired to keep the flame of creativity alive in myself.

With these new workshops, my goal is to hold sessions one evening a week for six weeks this spring. I am seeking up to 10 participants in order to keep the workshop intimate and to give each person a chance to work on their performance during every session. With contributions toward this campaign, I will raise the necessary funds to cover the costs of facilitating these workshops at no cost to the participants. This includes renting accessible theatre space, covering transportation costs, and hiring an assistant and one guest artist with expertise in teaching movement exercises. The stories that result from this workshop will also be part of Tellin’ Tales Theatre’s 2016 season.

Creating an equal playing field for all people to tell their stories has been my life’s work, and this project is an important step in my journey and a valuable opportunity to make the landscape of Chicago solo performance more inclusive and diverse. Thank you for your role in making these workshops a reality!