Ancram Storytelling

Real People Real Stories

Storytelling is as old as language but in the modern era we are more likely to be listeners than tellers. The Ancram Center for the Arts seeks to turn that situation around through its annual “Real People, Real Stories,” a production featuring local storytellers that has become an audience favorite.

On Saturday, May 11th, the center will host “Behind the Scenes: Real People Real Stories,” from 5-7PM at the Ancram Center for the Arts, 1330 County Route 7, Ancram NY. The benefit will raise funds for the many free storytelling and theater-making workshops held throughout the year.

Over the last nine years Ancram Center has hosted 224 free workshops, 22 storyteller events with 51 storytellers, and coached more than 900 students from Taconic Hills Elementary in the art of storytelling.

The benefit will feature performances by Ancram Center storytellers and conversations that pull back the curtain on how to turn personal experiences into memorable tales.

Hors d’oeuvres and wine, courtesy of Copake Wine Works, will be served. Tickets are $100 and tax deductible to the extent allowed by law, and available at ancramcenter.org.

“Storytelling is one of the oldest forms of communication; it’s how we come to know ourselves and each other,” said Paul Ricciardi, co-director of Ancram Center and Professor of Theater Arts at City University of New York-Kingsborough Community College. He also leads the Center’s storytelling workshops for fourth, fifth and sixth graders at Taconic Hills Elementary School.