Spring Programs
This May, Teachers & Writers Collaborative is offering three exciting FREE workshops for older adults (55+ years), in partnership with the Brooklyn Arts Council.
To register online, click the titles below. Or you may email register@twc.org or call (917) 398-2880.
Bringing Life to Our Life Stories: Writing Memoir
With Playwright Frank Ingrasciotta
Online – Fridays at 12 pm – 1:30 pm EST, May 14th through June 25th REGISTER
Have you ever wanted to write a memoir of your life stories but didn’t know where to start? Everyone has a story to tell and today more and more families are missing the value of their ancestry and traditions with the important people in their lives. In this virtual ZOOM memoir writing workshop, we will explore aspects of memoir storytelling through writing exercises. Our class works together will resonate and share a commonality that bonds us as a community. This workshop will consist of seven weekly sessions ending in a celebration.
Telling Your Life: A Storytelling Workshop
With Storyteller Robin Bady
Online – Tuesdays, 10:30am – 12pm, May 18th through June 29th REGISTER
We all have plenty of stories to tell. In this 6-week class, you will excavate some of these tales – about a beau, your family, your work experiences, your friends, maybe even some embarrassing moments! You will learn listening techniques, then, using focused questions and story exercises, you will create and perform satisfying, memorable, personal stories.
Putting Food on The Table: A Lunchtime Poetry Workshop Celebrating Food, Wine, & Song
With Poet Dave Johnson
Online – Wednesdays at 12 pm – 1:30 pm EST, May 19th through June 30th REGISTER
Join us as we feast on readings of classical and contemporary poems about food & drink from around the globe to inspire us to write our own, original lyrical verse, honoring every nosh, morsel, sip, nip & bite!
ABOUT THE TEACHERS
ROBIN BADY is an award-winning storyteller/writer/teacher who has been performing nationally and internationally for the last 30 years at spoken word venues, Fringe Festivals, theaters, and storytelling festivals. Her children’s work is featured at major museums, schools, theaters, libraries, and parks. Robin is the founder and curator of “No, We Won’t Shut Up!” – a powerful project showcasing the voices of a diverse group of women speaking about racism, bigotry, wage theft, sexual assault, and gentrification. She is the host of the BADYHouse Storytelling Concerts. Robin has been touring her solo show – “Nancy Drewinsky and the Search for the Missing Letter” – a story about how her family was affected by the toxicity of McCarthyism and anti-Semitism -and is currently preparing it for online viewing. Robin received the J.J. Reneaux Award and the Oracle from the National Storytelling Network and is a multi-year awardee of Brooklyn’s SuCasa grants.
FRANK INGRASCIOTTA (Actor/Playwright/Director/Educator) is the writer/performer of the award-winning Off-Broadway solo play Blood Type: RAGU, performing over 1,000 shows nationally and internationally. He wrote live theatre shows for the cable industry. As an actor, Frank has appeared in numerous stage productions, daytime dramas, and episodic TV programs. His recent film credits include featured roles in the award-winning SAG films Figs for Italo and Brooklyn in July, which can presently be viewed on AMAZON Prime. He has also directed many theatrical productions for various theatre companies. As an arts educator, he conducts workshops in acting and creative writing with diverse populations and students of all ages. He holds a Theatre Arts‑in‑Education degree from SUNY Empire State College and studied the Meisner acting technique. Website: www.frankactordirector.com
DAVE JOHNSON is a poet, playwright, actor, artist, translator, and social entrepreneur. His plays, Baptized to the Bone and Sister, Cousin, Aunt/Sorella-Cugina-Zia have been staged throughout the US and in Italy. His poetry collections include Dead Heat and Marble Shoot. His translations from Italian include the stage plays Gomorrah and Super Santos, based on Roberto Saviano’s international bestsellers. Dave’s recent translation is an interview in 12th Street with Edoardo Albinati, author of the prize-winning novel, The Catholic School. Dave appeared as a lead actor in his New York adaptation production from Italy of The Story of Love & Soccer/Storia D’ Amore e Calcio, by Michele Santeramo, for The Cherry Lane Theatre. Dave’s visual artistic work includes recent exhibitions at the Queens Museum, the St. John’s University Art Gallery, John Jay College of Social Justice Gallery, and a large-scale public work for the Milan World Expo at the American Pavilion entitled The Longest Table Cloth in the World. Some recent honors Dave has received include grants from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the Cerimon Fund, and the Ford Foundation. He is on the faculty of The New School Writing Program and CUNY Research Foundation. Dave is Founder and Director of Free Verse, a publishing house, working artists’ program, writing workshop, and magazine of poetry, prose, art, and song, born in the Bronx Department of Probation, that promotes turning waiting time into creative time. Dave’s newest work, 10~10~10~~Write 10 Poems in 10 Days at 10 a.m. is an online poetry workshop series available on YouTube that he completely designed, created, and produced for Poets House during the Covid-19 pandemic. The series has more than 17,000 views and produced over 900 original poems written by viewers throughout the world (The Community Anthology is available at poetshouse.org). Dave has designed and taught workshops for Teachers & Writers Collaborative for over 25 years.
These programs are supported in part by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.