Literacy Live!

Check out the Performers at Reading: A Family Affair!

 Reading: A Family Affair (RAFA) is this March 24, 2012! The Literacy Council of Northern Virginia will be bringing books to life this Saturday at the James Lee Community Center. RAFA is a free event that celebrates the gift of literacy through storytelling, music, puppeteering, and other art forms. Check out the RAFA Performers below. Once you find a performance you’d like to attend, take a look at RAFA schedule to make sure you don’t miss your performer.

Bob Brown Puppets have been a major children’s theater company for the past fifty years, offering the finest in children’s education and entertainment and performing to over 300,000 children a year. Bob Brown Puppets bring together art, music and story-telling to the delight of children (and grown-ups) everywhere. Bob and Judy Brown have enriched the lives, the imaginations, and the potential creative abilities of children, now performing for the children of those they played to 35 years ago.

Zurii Conroy began her journey into storytelling when she was in the third grade. Realizing that she had a talent that needed to be shared, Zurii began storytelling professionally in the 6th grade under the name “Princess Zurii.” Although Zurii specializes in African-American folktales, she is able to adapt to other genres within the craft. Zurii has performed at various venues such as birthday parties, schools, colleges, hospitals, churches, libraries, community events, plays, and festivals. Also an actress, Zurii has performed on both the stage and television.

Barbara Effron’s energetic storytelling programs combine folk, traditional, and modern tales with songs and audience participation. With her energetic delivery and enthusiasm, Barbara captures the imagination and takes the audience on journeys to far-flung places and fascinating people. Her passion for storytelling is enhanced with music and audience participation. Her engaging and educational programs reflect her background as a teacher and children’s librarian.

Elnathan K. Starnes/ Groovy Nate has been a working musician and song-writer in the DC/MD/VA area for over thirteen years. Elnathan is a featured guitarist on several CDs and has performed with several Washington DC-based groups. In 1997, he founded the award-winning soul band, Oktbrwrld, with whom he made four CD’s. Elnathan wrote the film score and co-wrote the film short The Water Story which appeared on BET. He is now a member of both the National Capital Puppet Guild and Puppeteers of America. Nate is a certified Music Together teacher and is teaching Music Together as well as Groovy Nate Music and Movement classes in the Northern Virginia area. Elnathan and his wife, Kisha Kenyatta, along with their two young children, combine talents to create meaningful and educational performance art and edutainment for children and families. They produced the first Groovy Nate CD, Meet Groovy Nate, in 2009.

Jacqueline Jules is the award-winning author of 23 children’s books, including Zapato Power: Freddie Ramos Takes Off (2010 CYBILS Literary Award for Short Chapter Book, Maryland Blue Crab Young Reader Honor Book, ALSC Great Early Elementary Reads), Unite or Die: How Thirteen States Became a Nation (2010 Library of Virginia Cardozo Award), Benjamin and the Silver Goblet (2010 Sydney Taylor Honor Award), Duck for Turkey Day (Washington State Children’s Choice Book Awards list, TN Volunteer State Award), and No English (DE Diamonds list, TN Volunteer State Award list). Also a poet, Jacqueline won the Arlington Arts Moving Words Contest, Best Original Poetry Award from the Catholic Press Association, and the SCBWI Magazine Merit Poetry Award. Most of Jacqueline’s books have grown out of her experiences as a teacher and elementary school librarian. Students are her inspiration.

After training with Guru Bhanumati for over a decade, Sheela Ramanath moved to the United States and started her own dance school, Kalavaridhi, in 2001. She builds upon her gurus’ teaching methods, creatively adapting them to each student. Even in grouped settings, she coaches each student individually. Through lecture-demonstrations and illustrated recitals, she strives to mold young artists into versatile dancers. Following the traditional curriculum for Bharatanatyam, Sheela teaches both the theoretical as well as practical aspects at each level. She draws upon real-life comparisons to help communicate depth of feeling. Sheela’s senior students will be performing at RAFA in 2012.

Gary Lloyd is a renowned storyteller, visiting schools, festivals, libraries, and other venues from Vermont to South Carolina, entertaining hundreds of thousands of listeners of all ages. He begins each program celebrating the bond between storytelling and reading – each requires the reader/listener to call on their imagination to recreate the story in their mind’s eye. Known for his enthusiastic delivery, Gary orchestrates a program of story, voices, movement, and participation that is focused on capturing and keeping audience attention.

In 1990, NOW THIS! began delighting audiences of all ages and interests with totally improvised spoofs of every style from opera to folk ballads, Shakespeare to Soaps. Every scene, melody and lyric was created, on the spot, from audience suggestion. In their interactive musical shows for kids, the NOW THIS! professional cast takes the audience’s ideas and instantly turns them into songs, comic sketches and musical fairy tales. Audience members can be part of the show too!

Literacy Council of Northern Virginia
2855 Annandale Road
Falls Church, VA 22042
(703) 237-0866
www.lcnv.org