Ellen Musikant is a storyteller, workshop facilitator and event producer.  In each of these roles, her goal is to invite the public into the wonders and delights of the oral tradition.  When working with the very young, Ellen plays within the story landscape and narrative and in so doing gifts the children  new worlds and new words.  For older students, she inspirits self-expression by affording opportunities to use creative dramatics to explore folktales.  

Ellen’s extensive repertoire draws from world folk traditions.  But she enjoys telling classic Western nursery tales such as The Three Bears and The Three Pigs to her preschool classes.  “I feel these stories are often neglected or changed to a degree at which they lose their flavor. These simple tales have existed for centuries because they delight and because they confirm what children already know -  life is filled with dangers; and, what they hope - the dangers can be overcome.” 

Ellen has been performing stories since 1995 in schools, libraries, festivals, synagogues and various other venues.  She has told at the Newark Museum, The Morristown Museum, The Children’s Museum of Manhattan and the Zimmerli Museum.  In 2000, she narrated Snow White with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Newark, and the New Jersey State Theater, New Brunswick.  

Ellen has co-authored a book, Judaism through Children’s Literature and has led teams in producing Tellabrations, benefits and the New Jersey Storytelling Festival.

Ellen's Website is located at:

NJStoryteller.com

Offerings

Assemblies

Far Fetched: A sampler of tales from the world’s folk traditions

What a Web We Weave: Stories of weaving and character building

 

Residencies

PRESCHOOL     

Story Time with Ms Ellen (weekly or biweekly): stories and creative playmaking

 

GRADE AND MIDDLE SCHOOLS

Will the Real Cinderella Please Stand Up! (five sessions): Explores five variants of the classic tale.

Six Stories in Six Days (six sessions): A story from each peopled continent and an examination of their differences and similarities.

Storytelling (eight sessions): A series of storytelling workshops in which each student will select and learn to tell and perform a single folktale.

Clue! (ten sessions): Each session will feature stories that are linked by a single motif and will lead to the writing of original folk-like tales.

Story Theater (fifteen sessions): Combines storytelling, improvisation and problem solving to bring to life stories to be performed.

 

Teachers’ Workshops

 

Do Tell! Learning to tell a story

Using Storytelling in the Preschool Classroom

Second that Emotion: A series of exercises to extend the story experience by exploring the emotional content of a story.

Bear Country: A series of exercises to extend the story experience by exploring a story from different points of view.