Performer and Workshop Leader Biographies

Cecelia Antoinette- just call me Cece - is a Dallas "boomed", NYC groomed, LA blooming actress who is the 2009 NAACP Best Supporting Actress Nominee-Local for COFFEE WILL MAKE YOU BLACK at Celebration Theatre. She has appeared on Broadway in Lincoln Center Theatre's MULE BONE and in numerous off-Broadway and Regional theatres. Cece is currently touring WATERMELON-GIT IT WHILE IT'S HOT! the historical and hysterical writes-of-passage one-woman comedy about growing from Negro girlhood into empowered womanhood in Hamilton Park "the first neighborhood built from the ground up for colored families" in Dallas, TX.
She is the Founder/Artistic Director of MOSAIC JEWELS "THE GEMS OF COMEDY" taking funny to a whole new dimension (diverse female sketch and stand-up). As a writer and Spoken Word Artist, Cece has published and produced works "BROWN GAL'S RISING", "JUST AS I AM" and "JUKEBOX POETRY" to public and critical acclaim. She loves to "edu-tain" children of all ages as a Teaching Artist and as KOO KOO the Klown. (Closing Concert)

Dylan Brody is an award winning playwright, humorist and thrice published author. In recent years, he has emerged as a radio raconteur, whose witty and profound tales of his journey through life are unique, yet utterly recognizable to everyone, earning him a reputation as one of America’s fastest rising storytellers. For more than two decades, Dylan Brody has been making people laugh around the world. He has evolved into an artful anecdotalist with an engaging style all his own. www.dylanbrody.com (Credit: Photo by Miriam Preissel) (Fringe Tales, Closing Concert)

Helen Brown has always enjoyed listening to storytellers, never thinking she could possibly be one. After she retired, she was introduced to Barbara Clark's "Tell Me A Story" class, which was a great learning tool. She develops, writes and presents stories of her own creation, and it has been such a joy. She is beginning her fourth year of storytelling, and is looking forward to many more. (Personal Stories)

Barbara Clark tells original, personal stories. They include events from life in a small town and in Los Angeles, touching stories of her family heritage, and warm profiles of memorable relatives. She is currently Artist-In-Residence at Vineyard Senior Center teaching storytelling to seniors under the auspices of the L.A. Department of Cultural Affairs. Barbara has a B.A. degree from Howard University and a M.L.S. degree from USC. (Workshop, Opening Concert)

Slash Coleman: WGBH Boston calls storyteller Slash Coleman, "Extremely provocative and entertaining," and NPR says, "Audiences everywhere deserve to see him."
As a storyteller at the 2010 National Storytelling Conference Fringe, the 2009 National Storytelling Festival (Exchange Place) and the 2008 National History Performance Conference, Coleman is best known for his award winning PBS special and Off-Broadway storytelling concert, "The Neon Man and Me."
Descended from a grandfather who was a dancer at the Moulin Rouge, a grandmother who was a painter, and a father who is a prolific sculptor, Slash draws much of his material from being raised by an offbeat, creative family. Often addressing the outright humor of being raised Jewish in the south by family of immigrants, his personal stories also speak of the profound cultural challenges he’s experienced and the inspiration he continues to draw from his own mother who is a Holocaust survivor.
As a lively interview guest, he's appeared multiple times on NPR, and has been featured in American Theater Magazine, The Washington Post, and Backstage Magazine. Among his many honors, Coleman has been awarded The Groucho for best one man show, the Top 40 under 40 award, and was a finalist in the Virginia Governor’s Award in the Arts.
Coleman currently lives in Richmond, VA where he continues to develop new stories for stage, film and television projects. www.slashcoleman.com (Workshop, Closing Concert)

Ellaraino - renowned storyteller and spoken word performer, is also an accomplished actress wih solid television, motion picture and stage credits. Still going strong, she's a veteran entertainer with over 40 yearsof experience.

Bess Fanning's television roles include a white trash female wrestler on NBC's MY NAME IS EARL, a harried HMO doctor on PROMISED LAND, and recurring roles on JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE and ONCE & AGAIN. She co-starred on the Web Series "Quarterlife," which also aired on NBC. Some of her commercial appearances include Progresso Soup, Singulair, Special K, and Hardees. New additions to her theatre resume include Rosie the rapper in THE WEDDING SINGER, THE MUSICAL, Susie in WIT, and Nadine and Juanita in DEARLY DEPARTED. Bess has written several one woman shows and performed them locally in Los Angeles. As a member of the Write Club, she performed regularly at Improv Olympic West. She also wrote, Executive Produced, and starred in “An Excellent Choice,” a short film which exhibited at several film festivals and is now posted on IMDB. www.bessfanning.com (Personal Stories)

Joe Herrington is a novelist, cowboy poet and western storyteller. His stories and poems are homespun and told in the Western tradition of honor, courage and rugged characters. Born a Texan, he grew up the way most West Texas boys did, working hard under that big open sky. His grandfather and uncle were storytellers and from them Joe learned to weave tales and appreciate the power of words.
During his Army years he began telling stories to Boy Scouts. But after leaving the Army he still remained a Scoutmaster for twenty-five years and honed his storytelling skills around the ideals of honor and character. Today he shares his life lesson Western Stories and Cowboy Poetry with a broad audience base from elementary schools to High school literature classes to festivals to church and professional corporate seminars.
Strongly influenced by the old cowboy heroes of his childhood, Joe began as his early cowboy mentors had done, to add rhyme and cadence to many of those stories. The result of such a mixture evolved into a blending of stories and poems that not only entertain but also teach and prod the soul with a truer understanding of deep values, solid character and the American Cowboy.
In 1981 he traded his spurs for Mouse ears and has worked for Walt Disney Imagineering for the past 29 years. He still has his boots and hat and never forgot his roots or love for the Cowboy way. www.joeherrington.com (Opening Concert, Folktales)

Anneke Jong - As a California native, blogger, storyteller, photographer, social entrepreneur, foodie, and wearer of socks, Anneke Jong is trying to squeeze every drop of awesome out of life. Her road warrior days as a strategy consultant were a fertile breeding ground for embarrassment and absurdity. She is currently a student at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. You can follow her at www.annekejong.com or @annekejong on Twitter. (Personal Stories)

David LeBarron’s love of storytelling started in 3rd grade when he read and reenacted the story of Athena’s birth. Taken by the “Muses,” he conducted many plays in his backyard, making props and sets out of his Mom’s linen closet and living room furniture. Luckily, he was never told to stop. David has produced 3 features, 3 webisodes, 6 shorts, numerous plays, a lot of really bad poetry, a musical, 2 one-man shows, and told stories to variety of listeners on a variety of subjects from gay spoofs to Ancient Gods, from Swan Lake to a daisy’s version of natural selection. He has won a few awards but is far too humble to bring that up. Some of these wonders can be seen at www.talesofthetribe.com. (Opening Concert)

John McGee has told stories since childhood, writing and staging audio stories with the neighbor friends, including using his Polaroid Swinger camera to invent a ghost for an old abandoned house called "The Haunted House of Abraham."
His favorite audience, his daughter Jillian and wife Laurie, who still listen, even though several of the stories they've heard many times. John founded the Antelope Valley Storyteller's group which ran for 4 years, then John moved on to work with speakers and other people who wanted to better understand stories and how to tell them. Today John is an award-winning storyteller, speaker and coach from the Antelope Valley, and enjoys spinning a windy, stretching a blanket, or telling a whopper all in good fun. www.storytellerjohn.com (Traditional Tales)

David O'Shea: Being a New York City taxi driver for 7 1/2 years, gave David his taste for storytelling. He only had to talk about his night to his girlfriend (now wife) and her mouth would drop. David has shaped his stories around his life as a taxi driver, Santa for the Beverly Center and as a FEMA worker. (Fringe Tales)

Ellen Switkes can't sing and she can't dance, but she does love attention! She draws true experiences from her own life, dealing with love, marriage, childrearing, and death, and develops these experiences into stories that tap into even bigger themes. In addition to her own storytelling, she is the producer/host for Cornucopia, a storytelling show for adults. Prior to her work in storytelling, Ellen was a producer for Entertainment Tonight and a talent coordinator for The Late Show starring Joan Rivers. She loves Los Angeles and palm trees. She also likes fruit margaritas. (Credit: Photo by Jake Belcher.) (Fringe Tales)

Sylvia Velasquez-Lawrence, born and raised in East LA (hub of the western world and cultural Mecca of the Americas), is a storyteller and Early Childhood Collaborator. In addition to the almost 30 years of talking and playing with young children, she gives parent and teacher workshops, performances and presentations to promote story, language and learning through "story arts." (Family Program)

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