StarryTellers
Dayle, Director of Pegasus Productions, has specialized in planetarium education for over 20 years. Her many accomplishments in the field of astronomy education include writing and illustrating three books in a series entitled: Skylore from Planet Earth. Each book contains fifteen stories from ancient cultures around the world with a focus on the Pleiades, Orion and the Milky Way.
In his show Defying Gravity, with every movement Ben is the consummate professional who mesmerizes with his humor as well as his magic. An actor, dancer, and singer, Ben was trained by many professionals including Irvin Kershner, the director of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.
Years ago in Shanghai, China, a teacher who wanted to help a ten-year old girl overcome her shyness handed her a book and said, “Go and read the story, my child. Come back tomorrow and see if you can tell it to me.” That launched Linda Fang’s career as a storyteller. Enriched by her experience of growing up in China, Linda tells stories she collects from Chinese folktales, historical anecdotes, oral traditions, and Chinese opera.
Mike FrancisCould you build a solar system with your lunch? Mike Francis can! A Physical Science and Physics teacher and formerly a lecturer for ten years at the Charles Hayden Planetarium at Boston’s Museum of Science, Mike combines the science of Astronomy with the dramatic skills of an actor in his role as Galileo: The Starry Messenger. For over 30 years, Mike has been performing throughout North America on stage, in film and on television.
Gail, who calls herself an "Organic Storyteller™" enthralls with her stories from around the world which change and grow with each new audience. She uses chant, mime, movement, and song to entice the audience members to use their minds eye to help shape each folktale with their own actions, images, words, and fantasies so that stories truly become tales of the people. Her workshops include courses in Multiple Intelligence: the Arts of Problem Solving; Math and Storytelling; Language Arts and Storytelling; and Mime and Movement in Curriculum.
Rich will engage us all in his personal story of how reading books, building scale models, watching films and delving into comics shaped his career as an author and illustrator of four non-fiction children’s books: Neil, Buss and Mike Go to the Moon; Godspeed, John Glenn; Ham, the Atrochimp; and Lucky 13: Survival in Space.
Kuchipudi KalanidhiKuchipudi Kalanidhi is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting Kuchipudi, an Indian Classical dance style that originated in Andhra Pradesh, India. Founded by Anuradha Nehru in 1992, Kuchipudi Kalanidhi’s mission is to raise the profile of Indian Classical dance in the United States by presenting professional and outstanding quality dance productions and training the next generation of Indian Classical dancers to the highest standards.
Tim Livengood is a storyteller and a planetary astronomer to boot. He began both careers as a child when he ran into a wall while racing to watch television coverage of Apollo 11's liftoff from the Moon, leaving him with an interest in space science, a scar, and a story to tell about it. The scar has faded, but the stories have not, and neither has Tim's interest in the universe. Tim creates and tells original stories wrapped around a kernel of truth, and kernels of truth held together by story.
John, a StarLab entrepreneur, is a planetarium educator, registered Maine guide and author. He thrills thousands of children annually with his inflatable planetarium and his stories about the stars as well as about nature and canoeing. A major contributor of articles to the International Planetarium Society, John is also an historian of the Middle Atlantic Planetarium. The owner of Northern Stars Planetarium and Educations Services, John is traveling all the way from Maine with his StarLab to entrance you.
Our featured performer, Lynn is a storyteller and planetarium educator who is best known for her interpretation of world skylore. Of Native and Anglo American ancestry, she has a unique world view which celebrates the roots and traditions of all people melded with a 21st century scientific knowledge of the universe. She has offered nationwide workshops that have included workshops for NASA Outreach, the Lunar and Planetary Institute, the International Planetarium Society, and the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. Lynn is the author of Moontellers: Myths of the Moon from Around the World, Elinda Who Danced in the Sky: An Estonian Folktale, and Baby Rattlesnake.
Michelle Philips - The Face Paint Lady
Michelle has been arting locally since 1991. She is recognized by thousands of children and their families as The FacePaint Lady. Michelle's newest endeavors include, framed chicken wire group art interactives, painted lounge chair frames and rolling out her illustrated business philosophy character, Cosmic Rooster™ ! Join the Fun (:
George Pierson is a visual artist and founder of Creative Mindflow LLC.
He spent much of his print design career leading award-winning creative groups, including HBO in New York and Discovery Communications here in the Washington area. George has spent over 35 years exploring the connections between creativity and meditation and various consciousness development methods.
Chevy Chase, MD storyteller Ellouise Schoettler calls herself an "old time southern storyteller" just like those she grew up listening to in her native North Carolina. She tells stories for adult and young audiences and is well known in the Washington Metro area for her school programs which blend personal and natures stories as well as folktales. She is the Storyteller in Residence at the Audubon Naturalist Society.
Lee TalbotLee Talbot is Assistant Curator of Eastern Hemisphere Collections at The Textile Museum in Washington, D.C., where he specializes in East Asian textiles. Before joining The Textile Museum staff, he spent two and a half years as curator at the Chung Young Yang Embroidery Museum at Sookmyung Women's University in Seoul, Korea. He is a Ph.D. candidate at The Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design, and Culture in New York City, and is writing his dissertation on textiles and women's culture in Joseon-dynasty Korea.
An undeclared city treasure of Takoma Park, MD, Harold has been the director of the Montgomery College Planetarium since 1990. An astrophysicist and astronomy professor, he brings the universe to life under the dome in the only astronomy 101 classroom in Maryland which is taught in a planetarium. A member of National Capitol Astronomers, he has a deep and abiding interest in astrolabes.
They sing, they act, they improvise. ArtStream on Stage has opened new doors for people with disabilities. ArtStream's mission is to create artistic opportunities for individuals in communities traditionally under-served by the arts. "I've gained a lot of confidence since I first got on stage," says Anne Bates, one of the ArtStream's actors. The actors with disabilities have mentors on stage who help guide them, or vice versa! Often there's a lot of improvising that takes place!
