Karen Rae Kraut Biography
Karen Rae Kraut spent her early years
as an actress and singer. She performed in more than
100 plays and musicals and one opera. She earned a Bachelors
Degree in Drama from the University of Southern California
and studied acting for three years with the legendary Stella
Adler in New York City. She graduated from the Stella Adler
Theatre Studio and appeared in two plays directed by Miss
Adler.
Karen fell
in love with storytelling in 1990 and has been telling professionally ever
since. She specializes in folktales from around the world which spotlight the
heroism and humor of ordinary people. Her programs include riddles, songs,
poems, movement and lots of audience participation. She has
performed her one-woman variety shows in elementary and secondary schools,
libraries, clubs, churches, universities, museums and senior centers from California
to East Tennessee.
Since 1997
Karen has been resident storyteller for the Riverside Public Library’s
First Sundays Program. She appeared in Corona, Irvine and Oakland as
part of the Smithsonian Institution's 1994 California tour. Her CD, “Cooler
Water Cora and Other Stories,” is the winner of a National Parenting
Publications Honors Award and an iParenting Media Award for Audio Excellence.
Karen teaches
storytelling for the UC Riverside Early Childhood Education Certificate Program
and has worked as a performer and artist educator with the Riverside Arts Council
since 1993. She is a touring and teaching artist for the McCallum Theatre
Institute in Palm Desert, and presented her workshop “Storyhour Stretches
with the Brain in Mind” at the National Storytelling Conference in Chicago
in 2003.
Karen is a member of the National Storytelling
Network and the American Orff-Schulwerk Association. She has received
the Arts Angel and Artist of the Month Award from the Riverside
Arts Council, and the Celebrate Literacy Award from both the
Inland Empire and Arrowhead Chapters of the International Reading
Association. She holds a Master's Degree in Storytelling
from East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, Tennessee. Karen
is also a graduate of the California Arts Council/Coro Southern
California Arts Leadership Program.
2/11/08
