Stagebridge senior storytellers featured in health and education programs

A hush falls over the crowd as the storyteller begins to weave a spell.

In that moment, audiences connect to the magic, power, joy and history of storytelling. It was the storyteller – the elders, the keepers of wisdom – who guided a community’s welfare and strengthened its society. And today that tradition is encourage and supported by the senior tellers at Stagebridge.

Stagebridge Theatre Company is the oldest senior theatre company in the nation, based in Oakland, California since 1978. The company reaches into the community to bridge the cultural and generational gap with senior storytellers, actors, dancers and singers. The senior storytellers range in age from 50 to 85.

“Since Stagebridge offers such variety of programs – classes, school assemblies, healthy aging workshops and performance – some of our tellers ‘do it all’,” said Liz Nichols, Stagebridge’s storytelling director. The company also performs on television and radio.

Since its beginning, Stagebridge has been dedicated to narrowing the gap between the generations and to presenting positive images of older adults. It is a non-profit, intergenerational arts organization that offers entertainment, workshops and classes to retirement homes, senior centers, schools, libraries and special events. The programs reach more than 30,000 people a year in Northern California. The company is comprised of 125 adults whose average age is 70. The storytelling staff includes internationally recognized tellers Erica Lann-Clark, Ruth Halpern, Marijo and Clara Yen.

Bridging communities with storytelling

Spring 2006, the company began a new “Storybridge” project to bring together residents of a Berkeley retirement residence and a nearby elementary school. Although the two communities are only blocks apart, they have no opportunity to share what each has to offer. The new grant-funded partnership makes the connection.

“We will teach storytelling workshops at both places and then bring them together for an intergenerational story swap,” Nichols said.

The young and the old will share their stories, working together for a period of six weeks. It’s a two-way street that is an engaging way to get to know each other and breaks down stereotypes on both sides, she added.

School programs with storytellers improve test scores

The nationally acclaimed “Storybridge” programs place senior storytellers in the classroom to help children improve literacy, writing, social and communication skills.

“We give students the opportunity and the tools to stand before a group and tell a compelling story in their own words, to be listened to and to hear the applause,” said Jeanne Haynes, 65, who has been teaching and telling with the “Storybridge” program for six years.

As a member of Stagebridge, Haynes also tells at retirement residences, libraries and community centers. She also teaches storytelling and performs at public events.

She is in the classroom twice a week for eight weeks and in that time the results are remarkable, she said. Students who are shy of public speaking become confident and articulate and gain a skill that will serve the next generation.

The schools program in Oakland Public Schools is in its final year of a three-year study funded by the U.S. Department of Education. The results from the first two years evaluation of the program are very exciting and support what storytellers already know.

“Students who worked with Stagebridge storytellers gained a greater awareness and understanding of storytelling as an art form,” said Stuart Kandell, Ph.D., founder and director of Stagebridge. “They also showed ‘significant’ improvement in language arts and listening comprehension skills as a result of the program.”

Storytellers play a major role in healthy aging programs

Stagebridge is a pioneer in bringing theatre arts to training programs for health care professionals. In Healthy Aging workshops at Samuel Merritt College School of Nursing in Oakland, Stagebridge seniors perform for nursing students. Storytelling is one of the key tools for helping health care personnel realize the vitality, humor and wisdom of seniors.

During the three-hour workshops, student nurses meet with the seniors in small groups and share their – in and out of – hospital stories. The performance component includes improvisation, singing and storytelling with a focus on health care issues.

“The experiences are powerful for the students, sensitizing students to all aspects of aging,” said Patricia Hess, R.N., Ph.D., San Francisco State University. Hess has participated in workshops and health care forums with Stagebridge.

…and there is more to the story

Senior storytellers with Stagebridge also present “Living History Programs” that include “Civil Rights Tales” and “World War II – at Home.” A “Vietnam Tales” project is being developed to collect and tell the stories from that era.

In an effort to preserve the past, educate future generations and build stronger intergenerational and cultural ties, storytellers stand out as living gifts to the community. Senior tellers at Stagebridge celebrate the joy of telling from that first moment of silence to the smile that comes from the sound of applause.

For more information about Stagebridge and to order CD’s and DVD’s call (510) 444.4755 or visit www.stagebridge.org