Omope Carter Daboiku

An award-winning teller of tales in the Oral Tradition, "Mama O" is also a published writer and theater artist. Her work illuminates the formation of culture, the relationship between place and identity, the commonalities of humankind, and the power of self-expression. She is a member of the Ohio Teaching Artists roster, specializing in arts integration, storytelling, and creative writing.

African American Poets from harlem REnaissance to 21st Century

Curriculum: Cultural Connections, English/Language Arts, Social Studies, Theater

Omope Carter Daboiku will dramatically present the poetry of African American poets such as Paul Laurence Dunbar and Nikki Giovanni, while exploring their use of dialect, vernacular, metaphor, simile, meter and tone. Schools may add poetry writing workshops.

 

PERFORAMNCE

Recommended Grades: 6-12

Maximum Audience: 200

Length: 45 minutes

Cost: $270 first session / $100 each additional; $500/day (performance and workshops)

Max #Sessions per Day: 4 (in combination with workshops)

 

WRITING WORKSHOP (same day as presentation)

Recommended Grades: 6-12

Maximum Audience: 25

Length: 45 minutes

Cost: $100 each session

Max. # Sessions per Day: 4 (in combination with performance)

global Commonalities in Storytelling

Curriculum: Cultural Connections, English/Language Arts, Social Studies, Theater

Explore common themes in storytelling that cross cultural boundaries in this presentation. For example, rice is a common food source in many cultures, and each culture has its story about rice. Schools may add writing workshops that focuses on taking a story and re-writing it to reflect the students’ culture.

PERFORAMNCE

Recommended Grades: 3-12

Maximum Audience: 200

Length: 45 minutes

Cost: $270 first session / $100 each additional; $500/day (performance and workshops)

Max #Sessions per Day: 4 (in combination with workshops)

 

WRITING WORKSHOP same day as presentation

Recommended Grades: 3-12

Maximum Audience: 25

Length: 45 minutes

Cost: $100 each session

Max. # Sessions per Day: 4 (in combination with performance)

Tell It Like It Is! The Preservation of African Storytelling Traditions in the Americas

Curriculum: Cultural Connections, English/Language Arts, Social Studies, Theatre

African American culture (and American culture in general) has retained much of the cultural expression of Africans taken and relocated to the Americas. The African American oral traditions in the United States (plus those of  Caribbean, Central America, and coastal South American cultures) retain many of the structural elements and characteristics of the original moral tales told for centuries in the ancient kingdoms of Ile Ife and Oyo (ancestral homes of the Nago, Nupe, and Yoruba peoples of present-day Nigeria, Togo, Benin, Sierra Leone, and Cameroon), Ashanti (the Akan of present-day Ghana), Songhay (the Ga of present-day Mali), and the Fon of Old Dahomey (modern Benin). Stories in this cycle may include Why So Tales, Br'er Rabbit tales, Ifa verses, songs, weather lore, and story rhymes. Schools may add writing workshops that focuses on re-writing folktale to reflect the students’ experiences.

PERFORAMNCE

Recommended Grades: 3-12

Maximum Audience: 200

Length: 45 minutes

Cost: $270 first session / $100 each additional; $500/day (performance and workshops)

Max #Sessions per Day: 4 (in combination with workshops)

 

WRITING WORKSHOP same day as presentation

Recommend Grades: 3-12

Maximum Audience: 25

Length: 45 minutes

Cost: $100 each session

Max. # Sessions per Day: 4 (in combination with performance)