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What is her art form?
Arianna’s
stories weave a lively fabric, spun from the histories and
present day realities of the faraway lands she has lived.
She envisions the art of storytelling as a Story Tapestry.
She creates her tapestry from the threads of her experience
as an Ethnographer, Storyteller, Teaching Artist, Dancer,
Musician, and Photographer. Each of her programs integrates
the strands of her knowledge into a solid, beautiful form
that effectively functions to further her organization’s
mission.
Arianna’s
mission with Story Tapestries is to:
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To
build a bridge of understanding and connection between
communities in the
US and around the world
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To
empower people through their stories to take steps towards
building their own community
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To
teach others how to tell and listen to other people’s
and their own personal stories and folk tales
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To
collaborate with the school system to increase the use
of the arts in the classroom
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Where has she performed? And taught?
Arianna
has performed worldwide. Performances Include: the Regional
Concert at the National Storytelling Network Conference in
Pittsburgh; the National School of Drama Festival in Delhi,
India; the International Storytelling Festival in Vancouver,
BC; the Fairfax County International Children’s Festival
at Wolf Trap; the Washington Storyteller’s Theatre;
a Vietnamese School for the Deaf in Qui Nhon, Vietnam; and
a School for Alternative Learning in Cork, Ireland.
She has been featured on National Public Radio on the Kojo
Nnamdi Show and in Public Television as a Professional storyteller.
Following
a three-year stint with Bansi Kaul’s renowned troupe,
Rang Vidushak, in Bhopal
, India
, she returned to the
United States as a touring
artist. Since returning, she has performed and taught workshops
across the United States
, Canada
and Brazil
in schools, community centers,
and hospitals. Based on her work as a storyteller and an educator
with organizations in India
, Brazil
, and
Vietnam
, Arianna founded Story Tapestries. Since then,
Arianna spent three years at the Children’s Hospital
in Washington
DC working
to strengthen their New Horizons Arts, Healing and Cultural
Enrichment program.
She has
developed and has executed a student-centered artist in residency
program that has been accepted by the
John F.
Kennedy
Center for the Performing Arts,
Washington , DC
, for presentation in
Kennedy Center
’s DC Community Partnership
Initiative for schools. She has received several prestigious
grants for exemplary work as an artist and a teacher from
the Humanities Council of Washington DC, the Montgomery County
Arts and Humanities Council, and the Maryland State Arts Council.
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Was she an artist from birth?
Arianna
grew up traveling around the globe surrounded by a family
of storytellers: her mother is a musician, her father is a
lawyer, her grandfather is a visual artist, and grandmother
is a traditional storyteller. Throughout childhood, Arianna
was given the space to be creative. She remembers letting
her imagination run wild while lying under the piano as her
mother practiced for a concert. Later on, Arianna would
dance around the room, telling the story of her mother’s
music with such a dramatic flair that her parents knew she
was destined to be in the arts.
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What drives her to tell international stories?
Besides
her drive to create, Arianna had an insatiable curiosity to
learn. One of Arianna’s formative experiences
was her participation, in Children’s International Summer
Programs, an organization that promoted peace through education
and exposure to other cultures. At age 11, Arianna became
a part of an American Delegation that visited
Mexico
. At age 14, she participated in an exchange program that
brought her to
Egypt . At age 17,
she was a Young Ambassador to
Israel
. She discovered at an early age the value of living
with and learning from other cultures. Consequently, she feels
compelled to work with multi-lingual communities and to encourage
them to tell their stories.
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Why will she adapt her programs to your needs?
As an
artist working daily in a variety of schools and organizations,
Arianna understands the complex relationship between different
learning and teaching styles that exist for today’s
children and adults. When Arianna became frustrated
with her inability to learn certain subjects, her parents
found alternative techniques that suited her kinesthetic style
of learning. She learned math through music and spelling
through drama. Arianna works with her clients
closely to select the appropriate techniques that will guide
her students to a higher level of understanding.
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What more can she say or do?
Arianna’s
varied background as a storyteller, dancer, teacher, photographer,
musician, ethnographer, and community empowerment consultant
enables her to weave a lively fabric rich with knowledge,
stories, and tools of understanding.
Arianna
says, “It is through the laughter and tears of our tales
that the lessons of life are imparted.”
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