Kind Crone Productions
My reputation as an Oracle-Award winning storyteller, a Grammy-nominated recording artist, a respected teaching artist, a critically acclaimed writer/performer, a producer of nationally recognized residencies, workshops, pre-conferences and locally lauded community outreach events was earned through dedication to excellence in my own work and that of others, to addressing issues of diversity, equity and inclusion, to working for peace and justice and reconciliation, and to speaking the truth of a woman's lived experience. These accomplishments stem from my core beliefs in:
...the healing power of art,
...the gift of language,
...the grace of listening,
...the building of community,
...the wisdom of women.
As a movement-trained solo performer I was lucky to have Humphrey protégé Meli Davis Kaye and Decroux-trained Tony Montanaro as my teachers from early on through mid-career. Studying mime with a woman and then a man, I learned how our differing centers of gravity impact the physics of our movement, how our culturally constructed gender performances impact our life experiences, and how both impact who we are and what we bring to the stage. When my solo performance work migrated from silent scenarios to the crossroads of gesture and language, my mentors in the storytelling community were chiefly women – Gioia Timpanelli, Heather Forest, Carol Birch, Laura Simms, Gwenda LedBetter, Elizabeth Ellis – from whom I learned how deep the work of story could go in the human heart and psyche, how the personal is political, how stories we live through and the stories we find to tell shape our lives, and how deeply entrancing the work can be for both the teller and the listener. In their presence, I have experienced and witnessed the storytelling trance (elucidated by Fran Stallings and Brian Sturm) that typifies the co-creative process of storytelling and story-listening. And I have had confirmed that a woman's life makes for important stories for all to hear, that a woman's body is the landscape in which her stories live, and that a woman's voice is a mighty voice.