Who Is Rona Leventhal, Anyway?
For over twenty years Rona Leventhal has gained a reputation as an exuberant and dynamic performer who brings a cornucopia of voices and characters in a fun, engaging and dramatic fashion. Her performances of multi-cultural tales and original stories beautifully weaving together drama, movement, songs, and humor, encouraging audience participation, and creating a joyful sense of community!
Rona has performed at the National Storytelling Conference, international venues, festival, special events and schools and libraries across the county. One listener said of Rona’s style, “Throughout the story I felt like I was watching a fully staged play with scenery and a cast.” Whether in the schools or in a public forum, Rona has the ability to communicate with the audience in a way that effectively imparts a message in a captivating and entertaining fashion. Another listener stated, “Enthralled, I listened as our own master storyteller wove a tale before and around us, creating a vibrant fabric of voices and movements and meanings that transformed the atmosphere of the room….. I was completely captivated by this speaker, a fact that I became conscious of only when her story ended so caught up was I in the performance.”
But Rona’s expertise stretches much farther: she is a Specialist of Improvisational Theatre and Movement, an Environmental Educator and a certified Teacher. She has been a Visiting Lecturer/Adjunct Faculty with the Education Departments at Columbia and Lesley Universities and the University of Massachusetts. Add to the mix her work in Integrating-the-Arts-into-the-Curriculum, creative writing and her work in Team Building and group dynamics and you have a multi-faceted Educator!
As a workshop leader Rona is applauded for her warm and enthusiastic spirit, supportive nature, and inspiring talent. An eclectic educator, Rona is deeply committed to working with teachers and their curricula goals in using storytelling and other art forms as methodologies for teaching and to develop the imagination….. an essential component, she believes, to inquiring and creative minds. She is passionate about bringing literacy to students in an exciting, motivational, and accessible way. She performs stories, presents workshops and school residencies to children and adults, keynote addresses at professional conferences, motivational speaking programs and coaching to small groups and individuals. She is on state rosters as an Artist and Teaching Artist for the Massachusetts, Alaskan, and NY (BOCES) Arts Councils and the New England Touring Roster (funding available).
Other Credits:
* Co-Editor, Spinning tales, Weaving Hope: Stories, Storytelling, and Activities of Peace, Justice, and the Environment (New Society Publishers), containing an article co-authored by Rona, “Ten Reasons to Use Storytelling in the Classroom”. An inspiring collection of stories, it has follow-up activities and is age/subject indexed. 2003 Honors Award from Storytelling World Magazine
* CD, Raps Rhythms and Rhymes: Stories to Tap, Rap, Shake and Sing, coming in 2011!
* Producer and Facilitator, Summer Storytelling Institute Retreat, a multi-day immersion into the art of storytelling for adults.
* The Power of Imagination: Teaching to Creative Minds, a book for educators…. date of publication to be announced.