Administration || Storahtellers || Collaborating Artists
Advisory Board || Board of Directors || Supporters & Partners

AKIVA THE BELIEVER invented the Electrified Tambourine in the 60s and has been going strong ever since! He has accomapnied Shlomo Carlebach, Paul of Peter, Paul & Mary, Yossi Piamenta, Alberto Mizrachi, Fran Avni and Shefa Gold. Today he teaches popular workshops in Spiritual Drumming and leads his own band, Joy!Joy!Joy! His first CD, Sailing G!d’s Wind, will be released this summer. He lives on a beach with his family where he co-leads a shul, Pnai Shore!

ELANA ARCHITZEL (ACTOR, PERCUSSION) is a performer, drummer, and teacher. She was given a taste of storahtelling at the storahlab workshop for teachers and could not contain her excitement for the project. A native from Troy, NY, she graduated from Emerson College with a degree in Musical Theater. Shortly after graduation, Elana appeared in the National Tour of Fame the Musical. Some of her favorite credits include Mother Superior in Nunsense, Magenta in the Rocky Horror Picture Show, Eve in Children of Eden, and Kathy in Parallel Lives. Elana currently teaches seventh and eights grade at the Park Slope Jewish Center as well as leading Junior Congregation. She has recently taken on the role of Bar and bat Mitzvah tutor for several students as well. Elana has the delight of spending various summers upstate NY teaching acting at the Young Actors Guild for seven to eighteen year olds. She has also recently been added as a cast member to the NYC based sketch comedy show It’s Twisted Television.

ELANA BELL (ACTOR, WRITER) is a poet, performer, and educator, seeking to create work that explores meaningful questions and is deeply rooted in community. She has been performing since age twelve all overthe US, Japan, and England, and spent two years touring New York City public schools with Minus One, a musical about abuse in teen relationships. In recent years, Elana has turned her focus to poetry, and was selected as the winner of the 2004 Stephen Dunn Poetry Award. She serves as the writer-in-residence for the Bronx Academy of Letters, a New Visions High School.

A resident artist with the louderARTS Project, Elana has been a featured poet at the NuYorican Poets Cafe, Bar 13, Hunter College, Teachers and Writers Collaborative, The Bowery Poetry Club, The Wow Café Theater, Cornelia Street Café, and the Bronx Council on the Arts First Wednesday Series. She is co-founder of SynonymUS, a multi-disciplinary performance series that originated at the Bowery Poetry Club. She co-created and performed in Impossible Home, an ensemble piece for the People's Poetry Gathering 2003. Recently, Elana appeared in the off- Broadway production of Downtown Rhythm at the Primary Stages Theater. Publications include: Words and Images Magazine (April 2004), Houston Poetry Festival Journal (2001), Poetz.com (online), PARSE and two chapbooks: Dreaming of Doorways and Name Carvings. She also sings with the a capella trio Saheli.

JESSICA BAY BLYWEISS (ACTOR) is a graduate of NYU Tisch where she studied at Playwrights Horizons Theater School. She grew up in beautiful Lake Tahoe, CA and made her way down to Plantation, FL where her love of performing grew. She is an accomplished athlete having spent years skiing as well competing in Triathlons. Recent Credits Include: Ginger in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (Shawnee Playhouse), Brenda - The Pajama Game (Shawnee Playhouse), Oklahoma (Village Light Opera) , Eleanor Davies (Fair Fight), and numerous readings of new musicals. While not performing to the masses she works on a Schooner yacht, coaches soccer, and plays with kids all she can.

JEREMY BROWN (VIOLIN) grew up playing classical violin, and discovered improvising and folk music during college in Berkeley, California. In 2001, Jeremy released an album of original music, titled "This Year in St. Louis". The album was well-received, and led to performances around the Midwest by Jeremy's klezmer-swing-grass band, "Treif". In 2004, Jeremy moved to New York and has been an active member of the city's Jewish music scene. Jeremy is a member of "Pitom", an experimental ensemble who will be releasing their second album on John Zorn's Tzadik Records later this year. Jeremy has appeared on klezmer recordings with "Art Bailey's Orkestra Popilar" and the Sy Kushner Band, as well as appearing as a soloist on albums by Ben Lapidus, Eitan Katz and many others. Jeremy has performed with numerous artists including Frank London, Dudu Fisher, Golem, and Margot Leverett's Klezmer Mountain Boys.



MICHAEL BRADLEY COHEN (MAVEN) hails from Princeton, NJ. He is an actor, director and stand-up comic. He is currently finishing his BA in acting and psychology at Sarah Lawrence College. He recently returned from a year abroad in London where he played the title role in Macbeth at The Oval House Theatre through the British American Drama Academy. Through his work at Sarah Lawrence College, he has received an Irene Ryan Award. And through his Theatre Education work at a high school rehabilitation center in western Massachusetts, he received an Academic Achievement Award. He is delighted and inspired to be a part of the Storahtelling company.

GALEET DARDASHTI (VOCALIST, TORAH CHANTER - PERSIAN TROPE, GUITARIST) follows a family tradition of distinguished musicianship dating back to 19th-century Persia. She pursues her artistic and academic passion for Mizrahi music as both anthropologist and accomplished singer.  As the leader and vocalist of the bold all-lady Mizrahi/Sephardi ensemble Divahn, Galeet tours frequently throughout the United States. She has also performed as a soloist both in the US and Israel, and she has served as a High Holiday Hazzan for the last five years. 

Galeet's grandfather Yona Dardashti was one of the most highly acclaimed singers of Persian classical music in Iran. Together with her father, Hazzan Farid Dardashti, and The Dardashti Family, Galeet performed international Jewish music throughout the US and Canada for 19 years. Galeet is currently writing her dissertation on contemporary Mizrahi and Arab music in Israel and offers interactive musical workshops and academic lectures on this topic. She recently returned from conducting her dissertation research in Israel, which was funded by fellowships from Fulbright-Hays, The National Foundation for Jewish Culture, and The Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture. During her fieldwork, Galeet studied and performed Arab and Persian music with some of Israel's most renowned musicians, including Yair Dalal, Yitzchak Refuah, and Kobi HaGoel.

LEANNE DARLING

KATIE DOWN (FLUTE COMPOSER) composer, sound artist, and multi-instrumentalist (flute, ukulele, voice, percussion, bass, guitar, homemade instruments) has created and performed numerous sound scores for theatre and dance companies and international festivals throughout the U.S., Eastern and Western Europe working collaboratively with theatre and film directors, choreographers, and of course other musicians.

Music direction, sound design and original scores include: Machinal - SUNY Brockport; Redevelopment - Havel Festival (Ohio Theatre, NYC); Death in Vacant Lot - South Wing Theatre Company (LMCC Swing Space, NYC); The Rivals - Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival; Trouble in Paradise - Hourglass Productions (Hudson Guild Theatre, NYC); Faust - Target Margin Theatre (Classic Stage Company, NYC), Dr. Faustus Lights the Lights - University of Rochester International Theatre Program; Innocents – Ripe Time (Ohio Theatre); The Secret of Steep Ravines – Ripe Time (PS 122); The Holy Mother of Hadley, NY – Ripe Time (Ohio Theatre); The Trojan Women (Fordham Univeristy); The Loneliness of Noam Chomsky - Butane Group (HERE); Ondine - Deep Water Productions (Walker Space, NYC); A Girl Joan (The Culture Project); Henry VI - Judith Shakespeare Company (Jose Quintero Theatre); Caucasian Chalk Circle - NYU Graduate Acting Program (Tisch School of the Arts); Tibetan Book of the Dead – Pilgrim Theatre (Boston Center for the Arts); Letters From Sarajevo - Pilgrim Theatre (Boston Center for the Arts);Seven Blessings – Tap Fusion (The Duke at 42nd).

As well as sound design and composition, Katie also plays several instruments including flute, ukulele, guitar, bass, piano, and various percussion instruments. Her Sephardic ensemble, Adelantre, performs traditional Ladino songs with original stories and movement. Her ukulele trio The Ukuladies, hosts a weekly uke event in Brooklyn and performs regularly in New York. Internationally, she has performed with different theatre artists at the Ohrid Summer Festival in Macedonia, Trn Festival in Slovenia, and the Malta Festival in Poland. She has co-conducted voice and movement workshops with young people from Media Artes in Macedonia, the UpBeat Hvar Music Festival in Croaita and Trn Fest in Slovenia, and continues to conduct workshops in improvisation in New York. Residencies include Watermill Arts Center, Music/Omi, chashama’s AREA grant, The Composer Librettist Studio at New Dramatists.

DR. SHIRA D. EPSTEIN (ACTOR/ED. CONSULTANT) is an Assistant Professor of Jewish Education at The Jewish Theological Seminary. Among the courses she teaches are Skills for Teaching, Curriculum and Instruction, Jewish Early Childhood Education, and Perspectives on Gender and Education. Shira's research interests include "gender and Jewish education" and "drama as pedagogy." She currently serves as Project Director at JTS for Learning to Address the Evaded Curriculum. Shira authored a curriculum for Jewish Women International (JWI) titled "Strong Girls, Healthy Relationships: A Conversation on Dating, Friendship, and Self-Esteem" (2006), and as educational consultant for Storahtelling, has edited and contributed to their "Cool Tool for School" curriculum. She is the co-chair of UJA-Federation of New York's Task Force on the Jewish Woman Steering Committee and is the representative of youth programs on JWI's National Leadership Council. She has an MA in Educational Theater from NYU and Doctor of Education from Teachers College, Columbia University.

ISAAC EVERETT (KEYBOARDS, SYNTHESIZER, DIDGERIDOO) is a pianist and composer whose work spans modern dance, video games, film, web cartoons, and liturgy. A recent graduate of NYU with Bachelors degrees in music and mathematics, he studied with Arturo O'Farrill, Frank Kimbrough, Joel Weiskopf, Philip Johnston, and Justin DelloJoio. He is currently a student at Union Theological Seminary and is the artist-in-residence at the Church of the Epiphany in Manhattan. He recent released his debut CD, Rotation, and he dances a mean tango.

AVI FOX-ROSEN (GUITARIST, SINGER/SONGWRITER) is a singer, songwriter and guitarist living in Brooklyn NY. 2007 is a milestone year as Avi independently releases two albums, "One" and "The Amazing Frozen String Quartet"! Avi performs regularly in NYC and nationally under his own name, and with the Amazing Frozen String Quartet; he is Musical Director of Kehilat Romemu, New York's only Renewal synagogue; he is a member of Storahtelling, a Jewish Ritual Theater Company; associate faculty in Jazz at BIMA @ Brandeis, 2007. Avi is a graduate of The Gallatin School of Individualized Study at NYU, with a BA in Jazz Performance and Jewish Studies, and has completed the year-long Rimon program at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem.

JESSE FREEDMAN is a director, performance artist, and teaching artist. He is Co-Artistic Director of 24/6 Jewish Theater Company. As artistic director of Baltimore's Jewish Theatre Workshop from 2006-2008 he directed Isn't it Romantic, Ajax, The Cherry Orchard, Small Acts of Kindness, Bella's Dream, and Wit. New York credits include original ensemble creations The Tehillim Project and Vanity of Vanities, with the Eschatological Theater and The Living Theatre. Jesse has performed his solo-magic-show The SpaZZaltooF at the Stamford Center for the Arts, Riverview Arts Center, and La MaMa Experimental Theatre. As a teaching artist, he has performed taught and designed curriculum for JCC's, Siegel College, Jews For Judaism, Black Box Studios, The Retreat Institute and Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center. He has trained with the SITI Company, and is a graduate of Eugene Lang College at The New School.

BRIAN GELFAND (KEYBOARDS, SYNTHESIZER, VOCALS) is a composer, keyboardist, and vocalist and has been composing and performing his own music for fifteen years in New York and Boston. He holds a Master's Degree in Contemporary Improvisation from the New England Conservatory, a BA in music from Colombia University, and a BA in Talmud and Rabbinics from the Jewish Theological Seminary. Brian is celebrating the upcoming release of his debut full-length CD, My Finest Answer, which draws on the sophistication of jazz and classical and the intimacy of pop. As a tenured artist-in-residence at the Arad Arts Project, Brian has performed all over Israel, including at the Knessett and the Dead Sea, performing a unique blend of modern musical styles and traditional Jewish themes. Brian is an educator in synagogues and schools in the greater tri-state area and is currently producing a CD for Camp Ramah Wisconsin.

JONATHAN GOLDBERG (ACTOR, WRITER) was born and raised.
A full-time lawyer (Juris Doctor, not Jewish Doctor)and resident of Manhattan, Jonathan regularly performs improvisational comedy, and is in the process of preparing his fourth stand-up comedy routine entitled "My Sixteenth Stand-Up Comedy Routine: The Magic of Short Sets." He plays the kazoo with grace and elegance.

Jonathan's other credits include Snoopy!!! The Musical(Snoopy), The Curious Savage (Samuel Savage), and The Miracle Worker (Capt. Arthur Keller). His debits include a mortgage and a huge cable bill. Jonathan's last appearance was on the Very, Very Early Morning Show, hosted by his pets, and he has appeared in federal and state courts throughout the country (not as a defendant).

Jonathan is the Co-Founder and Director of (and a performer with) Cherub Improv, a volunteer organization that performs and teaches improv comedy at senior centers, hospitals, nursing homes, hospice, homeless outreach programs, children's shelters, schools, and other organizations throughout New York City. Jonathan is also a member of the Board of Directors of the America-Israel Cultural Foundation. Jonathan attended Solomon Schechter Day School, Camp Ramah, Swarthmore College, and The American University, Washington College of Law.

JAKE GOODMAN is a community organizer, LGTBQ activist, Jewish educator and performer. He holds an MA in Informal Jewish Education from the Davidson School at JTS and a BFA in Acting from Emerson College. Jake has worked increasingly to advocate toward full equality for LGBT people in everyday and ritual life-Jewish and otherwise. A founding member of Queer Rising, a grassroots organization that demands queer rights through direct action, Jake's writing can be found on The Daily Kos and Alef: The NEXT Generation.   He has worked with GET Equal, Marriage Equality New York and Keshet-Boston. He has designed and facilitated educational trainings at JTS, Camp Ramah, the JCC of Manhattan, and has facilitated national training programs for Keshet, Nehirim, and "Addressing Evaded Issues in Jewish Education". In the theater world, Jake has performed across the country and internationally in Israel, at The Berkshire Theater Festival, Actors Theater of Louisville and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. He is currently a LABA Fellow at the 14th Street Y in New York City.

AYELET ROSE GOTTLIEB (VOCALIST, COMPOSER) based in NY and Jerusalem. An internationally acclaimed jazz musician who has worked with some of the greatest improvisers of our time, including Bobby McFerrin, Joe Lovano and John Zorn. Hailed by the NY Times as a “Commanding Vocalist”, She has released three critically acclaimed CDs featuring her original music. Her debut CD “Internal-External” was chosen as the “Best Debut of 2004” by the leading jazz publication “All About Jazz”. “Mayim Rabim” – her second album, is a song cycle Ayelet composed to ten segments of text from the erotic biblical love poem – Song of Songs. This album was released on John Zorn’s Tzadik Records. The project was then staged by Storahtelling’s own, Franny Silverman, and continued to receive residencies and awards from BRIC (BRICLab ’07) and PS122 (Best of the Boroughs ’08), followed by a successful tour of the Midwest last fall. Ayelet’s third release “Upto Here | From Here” is being released on August 11th ’09, and features Ayelet’s compositions to words by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., John Cage, Rumi, and others. On September 15th Ayelet will celebrate the release of this CD at one of NY’s finest Jazz venues – the Jazz Standard. She will be accompanied by her long time band members Avishai Cohen – trumpet, Loren Stillman – Saxophones and Anat Fort – piano, as well as Anat’s trio as a rhythm section – Gary Wang – bass and Roland Schneider – drums. This Fall Ayelet will record a new CD for John Zorn, this time, of his compositions from the “Book of Angels”. Ayelet has collaborated with three phenomenal vocalists (Basya Schechter, Sofia Koutsovitis & Malika Zarra) to create vocal arrangements to Zorn’s compositions. This CD will be part of John Zorn’s legendary Messada / Book of Angels series. For more information and tour dates, please visit www.ayeletrose.com.

NAAMAH HARRIS (Actor, Maven) is very excited to be a new member of the Storah Telling family! Naamah holds a B.A in Theatre from Binghamton University where she appeared in several productions including, Macbeth (Lady Macbeth), Comedy of Asses (Artemona) and Cabaret (Texas). Naamah also attended the professional acting Shakespeare program at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. Her theatre credits include Romeo and Juliet (Rhode Island Shakespeare Festival), The Tempest (George Bernard Shaw Theatre in London), and Voices of Africa (Manhattan Theatre Source). She recently filmed a sit-com pilot for Reel Deal Ventures, and has filmed several episodes of All My Children. Currently, she is working on a new play called Wider Than The Sky, with the Windhorse Arts Theatre Company. When not performing, Naamah enjoys working with kids, dancing and spending time with her friends and family.

RONEN ITZIK (DRUMMER) received his B.M. in performance from the Berklee College of Music, after receiving a scholarship from the school in 2000. He has also graduated with a M.M. degree from the Florida State University College of Music, in which he received a full scholarship, and a graduate assistantship, while gaining collegiate teaching experience. Among his teachers have been Ian Froman, Jamey Hadad, Joe Hunt, John Hazilla, and Hal Crook. Ronen has been actively performing since 1992 throughout Israel, and since his arrival in the United States: New York City, New England, and the South East. He has performed with such artists as Joe Lovano, Dave Samuels, Marcus Roberts, Arnie Lawrence, Alon Yavnai, Marcus Printup, Vincent Gardner, Rich Perry, Harry Whitaker, Pat O'Leary, Vardan Ovsepian, Bruno Raberg, Rodney Jordan, Scotty Barnhart, Longineu Parsons, Kevin Bales, and Eli Degibri.

SHOSHANA JEDWAB

ELIZABETH KEMLER (WRITER, SINGER, ACTOR, COACH, MAVEN) is a training and coaching professional who for twelve years has helped people discover how their authentic voice can be expressed with confidence, clarity and conviction, through both writing and speech. She is the founder of Best Effect, LLC, a communications and leadership training, coaching and program development company whose clients have included Fortune 1000 companies, non-profit organizations, artists and educators across the country. Elizabeth's extensive background in communications and musical and theatrical performance includes founding both dramatic and comedic theater companies in NYC, producing shows for public radio, and writing and performing for educational, advocacy, and cultural organizations. For seven years she was the in-house presentation skills consultant and trainer for the international software company Information Builders, Inc. For the past ten years she has designed and facilitated workshops for the CONNECT communications program at the Cooper Union School of Engineering, where she has also developed training materials and a comprehensive facilitators' guide.

JESSICA ROSE KERNER

SHIRA KLINE , aka ShirLaLa, is a celebrated New York based performer and music educator. Traveling across the country and internationally with her kiddie-rock band, she delivers a dynamic, interactive program of joy and spirit, story and song. Shira has worked for over a decade with a diverse array of Jewish communities to enliven rituals, holiday celebrations, and love for Jewish life and prayer. Her three "outrageously hip Jewish kiddie rock" albums found at ShirLaLa.com have sold over 20,000 copies. Shira's newest recording project Earth Worm Disco celebrates eco-music for kids. Original and imaginative music, stories and games that connect children to environmentalism can be found at RockinOutGreen.com.

JESS LENZA

ANNIE LEVY (RESIDENT DIRECTOR) is a director, collaborative performer and educator. In her seven years as a member of Storahtelling, she has directed over 10 traveling shows, including Becoming Israel and Like a Prayer, and served as the Resident Director for the company. Selected New York directing credits include The Stanford Meisner Theatre, Space on White, HERE Arts Center, 78th Street Theatre Lab, Untitled Theatre Company #61, Vital Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Source and The José Quintero Theatre. Her devised work includes Six Seeds: The Persephone Project at the Old Stone House and The Creation of Comfort and Chance at the Makor Visionaries Festival. International credits include The Assembly Rooms (Edinburgh, Scotland), Discoteca di Storia (Rome, Italy) and Acadia University (Nova Scotia, Canada). Annie is the resident director the Northwoods Ramah Theatre Company. Past credit include The Jewish Wife, by Bertolt Brecht, The Hero of Kabul by Marc Goldsmith and company created The Underwater Palace, The Jewbird, The Knight of Onions and The Knight of Garlic and Garden. Walk. Wonder. She is the recipient of a Steven Spielberg Fellowship in Theatre Arts Education, an Oregon Shakespeare Festival directing assistantship, is a member of the Lincoln Center Theatre Directors Lab and is the co-founder Sweet: Actors Reading Writers, a monthly series bringing poetry/prose writers and actors together. She is currently an adjunct professor of theatre at Pace University and SUNY-WCC and a teaching artist with the Manhattan New Music Project.

ANNIE LEWIS (ARTIST EDUCATOR) is a rabbinical student at the Jewish Theological Seminary where she is a Wexner Graduate Fellow. She grew up in Plainsboro, New Jersey and at Camp Ramah in the Poconos. She holds a BA from Brown University in "Linguistic-Anthropology: Culture, Communication & Performance" and Jewish Studies. In Providence, she wrote and performed with the Out of Bounds Sketch Comedy troupe and worked with the ArtsLiteracy Project. She has lived in Cape Town, Jerusalem and Be'er Sheva. She believes that Torah holds sparks for transforming the world.

JEREMIAH LOCKWOOD (STEEL GUITAR, VOCALS) was born and raised in New York City. He began his study of the guitar at an early age and at the age of fourteen, he formed a musical association with local blues legend Carolina Slim that's lasted through the present. Jeremiah is the grandson of the legendary Cantor Jacob Konigsberg, with whom he has performed and studied voice and chazzanus. The two appeared together in the 2000 documentary Hasidic Blues, directed by BBC veteran Robert Mullan. Since 1996 Jeremiah has performed internationally with experimental blues/rock/klezmer group, The Sway Machinery, on television, radio, in the theater and in local venues.

DAVID LOEWY (ACTOR, DIRECTOR) is a founding company member of Storahtelling. Since 2001, he has participated in the development, writing and performance of over thirty works of Jewish ritual theater. Outside of his Storahtelling work, Loewy remains an active writer, performer, and educator. His full-length play The Weston Women was awarded the 2007 Helford Prize by Jacksonville University. In 2001 and 2002 he received the Spielberg Fellowship in Theater Arts Education from the Foundation for Jewish Camping. Other work experience includes: Associate Project Manager with Freeman/Frazier & Associates, Operations Manager for Storahtelling, Program Director and Arts Director of the URJ Greene Family Camp, and religious educator for Congregation B'nai Jeshurun (Manhattan) and Temple Bet Torah (Mt. Kisco, NY). In 2006, he founded ETA - Early Talent Assistance, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting emerging talents in the arts. Loewy received his Master of Public Administration from New York University's Wagner School and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Texas' Plan II Honors Program.

YAEL MIRIAM (ACTOR) holds a B.F.A. from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, where she attended Playwrights Horizons Theatre School and Stonestreet Studios. There she preformed in such productions as The Libation Bearers, For Colored Girls..., Dreams in Scar Space, Polaroid Stories, and Peter. She recently completed a film with Dirty Feet Productions and currently is hard at work as is a member of Hemispheric's EmergenC Program for emerging activist artists creating a production with them premiering this fall. Yael can also be seen in Birthright Israel NEXT's national tour of I.D: An Evening of Solo Performances Exploring Jewish Identity performing her original work. When not performing she works hard, daydreams, and plays with her friends.

DEANNA NEIL (ACTOR) is a singer, actress, writer and radio go-to girl. Performance highlights include her solo cabaret Enter Night, recently performed in London, a workshop of The Night of The Hunter (Dir: Robert Falls), Hidden Voices (Dir: Terrence Mann), Ghetto (Dir: Joshua Sobol), experimental operas A Post Madonna Prima Donna and A Phonographic Novel, and singing Kol Nidre as a cantor for the Jewish high holidays. Vocal awards include 1st Prize, Wesleyan Concerto Competition and IES vocal scholarship for study in Milan, Italy. Deanna recently published her first novel, The Land of Curiosities, aimed towards engaging kids in the environmental movement (www.theecoseekers.com). In radio, she worked as a producer at the Air America Radio network and she currently freelances for PRI and American Public Media.

STEPHANIE PACHECO (Producer) has served as BRICstudio Manager at BRIC Arts|Media|Bklyn since 2006, where she produces the spring and fall performing arts seasons and oversees the BRIClab artists-in-residence program. Presenting and co-presenting credits with BRIC include workshops and premieres by: The TEAM, Wally Cardona, Katori Hall, The Jazz Passengers, ETHEL, Dianne McIntyre, Ping Chong & Company, 651 Arts, Danspace Project, Dance Theater Workshop and MAPP International Productions. Also with BRIC, Stephanie has served as Program Associate for the Celebrate Brooklyn! Performing Arts Festival and Finance & Operations Associate for Community Media, Contemporary and Performing Arts programs. From 2002-2006, Stephanie worked with Storahtelling in the roles of Production Manager and Booking/Marketing Manager.

Producing and Stage Management credits include: Danny Boy (FringeNYC); Class of '70 (Looking for Lilith Theater, Center Stage NY), Below the Bible Belt (Storahtelling, Slipper Room), Klezmatics Benefit for the 9-11 Fund (Orensanz Center) and the upcoming God of Our Fathers with Jonathan Ross in 2010. She has worked at Joe's Pub, Lincoln Center, Classic Stage Company, The Spirit of Broadway Theater, Northshore Music Theatre and the Louvre Theatre (Paris, France), and she is a proud member of the Advisory Board of Mud/Bone Collective. Stephanie is a recipient of a 2009-2010 Arts Management Fellowship from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

NAT RAHAV (DJ, PERCUSSION) is a producer whose music blends urban dance music with various traditions of improvised and folk music from around the world. Be it Africa's rhythms, the modes of the East, dub reggae's production style, hip hop's deconstruction of recorded sound, or house music's energetic pulse, the essence of Nat's musical style is in bringing out the universal Soul, healing power, and spiritually elevating qualities of music from around the world. Nat has been a DJ for 12 years, in NYC for the last 7, and has performed at some of New York's most beloved musical gatherings, including Turntables on the Hudson, Mutiny, Giant Step, SOB's, Organic Grooves, and many more. He has also brought his music to the far corners of the earth: Japan, India, Israel, Vienna, Paris, Croatia, & Puerto Rico. In 2003 Nat Rahav founded Busquelo Productions and the related website as a means of sharing his music with the world.

CHLOE RACHAEL RAMRAS (ACTOR), organically grown in Seattle, Washington, is a reasent graduate of NYU, Tisch School of the Performing Arts. There she studied with Playwrights Horizon's Theater School as an actor/ director and The Experimental Theater Wing. She had the extreme honor of attending Dean Kevin Kuhlke's International Theater Workshop in Amsterdam, an acting training program including master classes with The Royal Shakespeare Company, Oxford, Paul Binnerts, Brechtian expert and post-modern dance company Ultima Vez, Brussels. On the Tisch Mainstage, she performed in Liz Swados adaptation of The Dybbuk.

Chloe has also worked with The Groundlings in Los Angeles, appeared on The Dave Chappelle Show in New York. Chloe was last seen on the Culture Project Stage in, MENTAL MISSILES: A Political Revue, as a part of the Impact Festival. Chloe is more than excited to bring two passions of hers, theater and Jewish culture, together with the nomadic band that is Storahtelling. She would also like to thank her parents and brother for everything in the world.

JONATHAN ADAM ROSS (ACTOR, MAVEN) Holder of a BFA in Acting from NYU's Tisch School, Jonathan has performed his one-man show, Walking in Memphis: The Life of a Southern Jew, Off-Broadway and around the globe. A founding company member of the Northwoods Ramah Theatre and Storahtelling, he is currently touring his new solo show, God of Our Fathers, about a Jewish family living through a generation of assimilation. For more visit here.

JULIE SELTZER (DIRECTOR, DRAMATURG) Two of Julie’s loves - the stage and Jewish life - are thrilled to collide at Storahtelling. The two were bedfellows in the past at the Hillel in Madison, Wisconsin, where Julie founded a Jewish theatre, and at the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in Rockville, MD, where she taught Rabbinics and drama. Julie’s most recent directing adventure was Joan Schenkar’s The Lodger, translated into Hebrew and performed in the basement of a Tel Aviv café. She recently returned to New York and works as a Program Officer at the Jewish Outreach Institute, creating and developing curriculum.

SHAWN SHAFNER is an actor, director, singer, educator, storyteller and, most currently, the Puru of The Poop Project: A Cultural Movement. He first encountered Storahtelling when he was awarded a 2005 Spielberg Fellowship in Theatre Arts Education, and he has been a company member since. In 2009For most of 2008, he toured nationally as Pablo in Nickelodeon's The Backyardigans Live! New York credits include The Club at La Mama, Classic Stage Company, Stone Soup Theatre Company, and Long Island Theatre Classics on Tour. Shawn holds a BFA from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, and has trained in Russia at the St. Petersburg Theatre Arts Academy, the Moscow Art Theatre, and the Institute for Contemporary Art in London. Shawn also works as a teaching artist with New York City youth.  

MELISSA SHAW (ACTOR, DIRECTOR) has recently graduated from Sarah Lawrence College with her MFA in Theatre. She is also graduate of Emerson College of Boston. In New York, Melissa has performed at or in PS122, The New York International Fringe Festival, the Vital theater, The Kraine, and other assorted parks and festivals. She has worked with downtown luminaries as Mabou Mines, Mary Overlie, Fred Ho, Ruth Margraff, ANDHOW!, and Storahtelling. Melissa is a memeber of Epiphany Theater Company's Reactionary program and recently completed a residency at Elswhere Artist Collabrotive in Greensboro, NC. Her newest solo piece "On How to Dress Your Child the Day you are Going to Pretend She has Polio" will be performing at The Red Room throughout November.

RUN SHAYO

SARAH SOKOLIC (ACTOR)joined the Storahtelling Company of Artists in 2004 as a performer and educator and currently oversees all aspects of Storahtelling's organizational operations. Sarah began her professional career in the corporate world, spending a decade working in the field of Organizational Development and designing and delivering professional development programs for both Fortune 500 companies and professional service firms including Viacom, Inc., MTV Networks, Nickelodeon, Booz Allen Hamilton, and Credit Suisse First Boston. She holds an M.A. in Organizational Psychology from Teachers College Columbia University and a B.A. in Sociology and Near Eastern and Judaic Studies from Brandeis University. In 1999, Sarah shifted her professional focus to pursue her life-long passion for the performing arts. After three years of training, Sarah pursued an professional acting career and earned credits both Off and Off-Off Broadway and has appeared in numerous independent films and TV commercials, and on television in Law & Order: SVU, and Sesame Street. Sarah was the recipient of the Best Actress Award for her performance in the short film "Seder" at the 2004 Arlene's Grocery Picture Show.  

In addition to her work as a performer and trainer, Sarah has spent many years working with synagogues and unaffiliated families to develop B'nai Mitzvah study programs and facilitate rituals events that incorporate the performing arts in Torah study, prayer, and Jewish ritual. She has brought more than 50 families through the B'nai Mitzvah process.

Sarah is a long-time Ramahnik and also serves as a board member for Camp Ramah in the Berkshires. She lives with her husband and two sons in New York City.


EMILY WARSHAW (ACTOR) a performer and writer, received her BFA from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts where she studied acting and directing at Playwrights Horizons Theatre School, and clowning and physical comedy with the Experimental Theatre Wing. Emily's performance work has been recognized by the Southeastern Theatre Conference and the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts.

As a Jewish educator/arts administrator, Emily has held positions in summer camps at the Jewish Community Association of Austin, the 92nd Street Y where she served as director of the fine/performing arts camp, and also at the Commission for Jewish Education of West Palm Beach, FL.

JUSTIN WEDES is a klezmer and multi-instrumentalist from Detroit, MI. Brought up in the rich traditions of Jewish klezmer and Motown soul, he feels as comfortable with yiddische accordion as with funky Rhodes piano. After graduating from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, he relocated to Brooklyn to teach science and spread his music. On the web: www.justinwedes.com

ALEX WOLFSON (ACTOR) a native of Omaha, NE, received his Bachelor's Degree in theatre performance from the University of Kansas. Credits include: You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown (Charlie Brown), The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Speed) and The Royal Family (Oscar Wolfe), Miss Nelson is Missing with the Omaha Theatre Co. for Young People. Alex loves to make people laugh and is very excited to be a company member of Storahtelling.

DAVID WOLKIN (MAVEN, EDUCATOR) is the Coordinator of Early Elementary and Family Education at Temple Emanu-El in New York. A graduate of the Jewish Theological Seminary's Davidson School of Jewish Education, he has most recently worked as a full-time teacher at Central Synagogue's Religious School and spent the summer as Theater Educator-in-Residence at Brandeis Collegiate Institute. As a Jewish educator, he was worked for Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, The Museum of Jewish Heritage, and Camp Ramah in Wisconsin, JESNA and several synagogues in the Manhattan area. He is also a regular with New York's "Inner Monologues" series, writing and performing his own pieces for just over two years, and has taken the stage at the late Mo Pitkin's, Galapagos, the Rapture Cafe and the 14th St. Y. In his free time, he enjoys crossword puzzles, comic books, giggling at pictures of kittens, and snuggling with his teddy bear, Snuffles.

MELISSA ZIMMERMAN (SINGER/ACTOR) she graduated summa cum laude from Northwestern University with a B.A. in Theatre and a Music Theatre Certificate. During her time there, she helped to found a children's theatre company, the Purple Crayon Players, that tours to schools in the Chicagoland area. She also was a member of the Hillel board, planning campus-wide Jewish cultural events. Currently, she is a Bar/Bat Mitzvah tutor, Hebrew tutor, and Torah Cantillation teacher at synagogues across NYC. Melissa is originally from Melville, NY.

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