<div dir="ltr"><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:medium;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);line-height:24px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(34,34,34);background-image:none;background-position:0% 0%;background-size:auto;background-repeat:repeat;background-origin:padding-box;background-clip:border-box"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:medium;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0)"><b><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:medium;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">April 12, 2024</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="right" style="margin:0in;font-size:medium;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);text-align:right"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:medium;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">CONTACT:<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><a href="mailto:pr@ancramcenter.org" style="color:rgb(150,96,125)"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">pr@ancramcenter.org</span></a><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 12pt;font-size:medium;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);line-height:24px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin:0in;font-size:medium;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);text-align:center"><b><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">ANCRAM CENTER FOR THE ARTS WILL HOST FREE STORYTELLING WORKSHOP </span></b><b><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">SATURDAY APRIL 20</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin:0in;font-size:medium;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);text-align:center"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:medium;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);line-height:24px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:medium;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);text-indent:0.5in;line-height:24px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Ancram Center for the Arts will host a free storytelling workshop designed to help participants craft and tell a compelling personal story on Saturday April 20 from 11:00 am – 1:00pm.<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span><span style="background-image:none;background-position:0% 0%;background-size:auto;background-repeat:repeat;background-origin:padding-box;background-clip:border-box">The workshop is limited to 15. </span>To register, email<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><a href="mailto:info@ancramcenter.org" style="color:rgb(150,96,125)"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">info@ancramcenter.org</span></a><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">.<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:medium;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);text-indent:0.5in;line-height:24px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The class will be led by Ancram Center’s Paul Ricciardi, an award-winning educator who curates and directs the Center’s REAL PEOPLE REAL STORIES series.<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:medium;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);text-indent:0.5in;line-height:24px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">“Everyone has a story to tell,” said Ricciardi. “In this workshop students will practice exercises to help them hone their narratives and connect with an audience, the kind of connection that can only happen through the intimacy of storytelling.”<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:medium;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);text-indent:0.5in;line-height:24px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In recent years, the Storytelling Workshop has become a feeder for Ancram Center’s REAL PEOPLE REAL STORIES series, which has been a highlight of every season since 2017.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:medium;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);text-indent:0.5in;line-height:24px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(34,34,34);background-image:none;background-position:0% 0%;background-size:auto;background-repeat:repeat;background-origin:padding-box;background-clip:border-box">Ricciardi is the recipient of the Kennedy Center Teaching Artist Award and Kennedy Center Gold Medallion</span><span style="font-size:13.5pt;line-height:27px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(34,34,34);background-image:none;background-position:0% 0%;background-size:auto;background-repeat:repeat;background-origin:padding-box;background-clip:border-box"><span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;background-image:none;background-position:0% 0%;background-size:auto;background-repeat:repeat;background-origin:padding-box;background-clip:border-box">and a Professor on the theater faculty at the City University of New York/Kingsborough Community College.<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:medium;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);text-indent:0.5in;line-height:24px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Ancram Center for the Arts is an award-winning theater located in New York's Hudson Valley. Housed in an historic Grange Hall, Ancram Center has since 2016 presented groundbreaking theater and musical performances by nationally recognized theater artists. The Center receives significant annual support from the New York State Council on the Arts and in 2023 was awarded a generous grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. For more information visit <a href="http://ancramcenter.org">ancramcenter.org</a>.<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:medium;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);text-indent:0.5in;line-height:24px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:medium;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);line-height:24px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin:0in;font-size:medium;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);text-align:center;text-indent:0.5in;line-height:24px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(26,26,26)">#   #   #</span><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:medium;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);line-height:24px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></p><img src="cid:ii_lux1roow0" alt="Paul+Ricciardi+Head+shot.jpeg" width="348" height="452"><br><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:medium;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);line-height:24px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Paul Ricciardi.  Photo Credit: B Docktor </span></p></div>