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At 6:39am on September 7, 2008, Buck P Creacy said…: Hello Doria;

What a great site PS has become and what a great community of tellers. Forgive me for being so late in greeting you, I don't know how I missed you in the early days of PS and recently my heart decided to throw a little surprise party at the emergency room... not a heart attack just Pericarditis (non-lethal... only painful condition). I am recovering nicely, was able to go ahead and get married and move. So you might forgive my late greeting. Hope you join some of the groups... mine will pick back up as I get more settled into our new routines. Anyway... welcome to PS and I hope you learn to love it and this wonderful collection of tellers as much as I do.

Buck

At 8:10am on March 7, 2008, Doria Hughes said…: You know, you're right. It's hard to imagine how I could be the storyteller I want to be without having done all of the odd and unlikely things that I did along the way; and that includes 5 years working in retail (storytelling REALLY gets honed by retail work!). I would love to bring storytelling to CA. In my (albeit still rather limited) time working with middle schoolers and teens, I have seen a real thirst to tell. All they need is someone(s) to give them a safe space and help them "find their voice". What do you need me to do to help make it happen?

At 7:36am on March 7, 2008, Lani Peterson said…: I loved reading your about your journey through comparative lit, anthropology celtic studies to get where you are today. I suspect if we had tried to make the straight line for storytelling, we wouldn't be as good as we are! Perhaps it has been a gift for all of us to pick up these diverse experiences and learnings along the way, so that we can be the characters that we are now! On the other hand, maybe we need to see it as our mission now to make sure that as many kids as possible know about storytelling before they get lost as lawyers and doctors, and save them some heartache! Maybe its also time you and I submitted a proposal to CA to bring them storytelling. What do you think?

At 7:35pm on March 6, 2008, Doria Hughes said…: Yup, I trained pretty seriously as a hard-core scholar/nerd. In college, I double majored in Comparative Literature (French + German) and Anthro. I was obsessed with Celtic stories, and dreamed of becoming a real-live Celticist, so these were all more or less means to that end. But what I discovered while getting my Masters (in Celtic Languages and Literatures), is that Celticists are a very dry bunch, and listening to them deliver talks - even on subjects of great interest to myself and them - was painfully boring. After a couple of years I simply couldn't bear it any more!! Plus, I realized that I didn't want to be limited to studying and enjoying the stories of of only Celtic background. I love stories of all kind, plus, I also really love making silly sounds (something Celticists have ZERO appreciation for). I gravitated back towards the Jewish noodlehead stories I had always loved as a child, and added to my mental trove more that I discovered in ancient Irish, Welsh and Breton sources, and just went from there.

I stay pretty far away from institutions of higher learning these days, and stick to preschools, elementary schools and middle schools (sometimes high schools, too), where my talents are appreciated!! I also love telling to intergenerational groups, if only to see jaws drop from adult faces when they see my antics! I think grownups are frequently surprised to discover that they enjoy storytelling as much as their kids do.

I guess my path to Storytelling is itself a story! I truly appreciate your interest, and am glad for the chance to share on the subject.

Happy Tales!
Doria

At 4:06pm on March 6, 2008, Rachel Hedman said…: Dear Doria:

So you specialize in Noodlehead stories. . .I haven't ventured into those kinds though hearing stories around the world like that gives all of us a reason to laugh at ourselves.

I am intrigued by your degrees in Comparative Literature as well as in Anthropology and Celtic Studies.

You have probably connected with those same departments at colleges as venues--or do you mainly focus on the 3-12-year-olds that you mentioned in your profile?

Until we tell again,

Rachel Hedman

At 4:01pm on March 6, 2008, Norah Dooley said…: Fun.
I just noticed it too.
Deep Thoughts.
Norah

At 1:15am on February 14, 2008, Norah Dooley said…: Hey Doria -
Nice to see you here -lets be friends !
I mean on line...;-)
I am currently teaching full time so may be a while before I can "come out and play" But happy to be here.
Tx,
Norah

At 5:38pm on February 12, 2008, Doria Hughes said…: Hi there! My friend Andrea Lovett, who's a terrific storyteller and colleague, recommended I join. I still have a ways to go before I am blog-worthy, since I don't have loads of gigs at this point, but I aspire to it some day. I just have to have something worthwhile to say first!
Thanks so much for the Welcome,
Doria

At 5:28pm on February 12, 2008, Dianne de Las Casas, Author, Award-Winning Storyteller said…: Welcome to Professional Storyteller! Glad you joined us! How did you find out about the site? Just curious as to how the word's getting out. I look forward to reading a blog post!

Warmly,
Dianne

At 9:36am on February 12, 2008, Doria Hughes said…: Wow, nifty looking web site, very easy to use. Maybe I'll even get brave and try using the blog..........

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About Me:

Having studied classical music for a decade, and obtained degrees in Comparative Literature, Anthropology and Celtic Studies, I decided to put my skills to good use as a professional storyteller! A native of Cambridge, MA, I work primarily in schools, libraries and bookstores with children of all ages. I also do residency programs in schools and day care centers for children as young as 3 or as old as 12, in which I work with students for a week, guiding them through storytelling games and activities, and coaching them to perform their own individualized and collaborative performance project(s). My dynamic performance style incorporates numerous sound effects; I use my whole body to convey the nuances and foibles of my characters - and I encourage audience participation (particularly for my youngest audiences). I specialize in trickster and noodlehead tales from around the world. My stories come from Nigeria, Japan, Ireland, Native America, Korea, Ghana, Scandinavia, France and more.....

Website:

http://www.doriastories.com

Doria Hughes's Blog

check out my Blog!

You can read about my latest doings and observations on storytelling (and more) at:

http://doriastories.blogspot.com/

I look forward to your comments!

Posted on May 20, 2008 at 9:04am —

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