This six-week class meets on Sundays: September 8, 15, 22, 29 October 6, and 20 (Skip October 13). Each session is 3 hours.
In this six-week class, you’ll transform your real-life experiences into relatable, compelling stories in a fun, supportive environment. Instructors will use interactive exercises to discover your life’s stories, develop a narrative structure, infuse engaging details, then polish your performance.
This class has a graduation show on Monday, October 28th where participants will perform for an audience of friends, family, and the community.
About the Instructors
Dennis Noonan-Sloan is a Navy veteran and comes from a family of storytellers. In his professional life he has been a corporate educator and a project manager but spent a lot of time in the early part of his career helping others improve their presentation skills. Dennis received his Masters in Education from Vanderbilt University. Read more here.
Al Chewning is a native Virginian and has lived in Virginia Beach since he was six weeks old. In 2003, after twenty seven years in the Virginia Beach Fire Department, Al started Histories and Haunts, L.L.C. as a way to share his love of history and his interest in the paranormal. First came Ghosts of Virginia Beach, the city’s original ghost walk, at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront. As a friendly “scaryteller” he has entertained audiences of all ages with stories of the city’s historic beginnings and of the spirits who seem to linger on here.
Al has presented his programs for the National Park Service, The Virginia State Parks and for numerous museums, schools and community groups. He currently serves as President of the Princess Anne County/Virginia Beach Historical Society. Al is listed in the National Registry of Living Historians and is a member of the National Living History Association, the Virginia Storytellers’ Alliance, Preservation Virginia, and the American Battlefield Trust.
