About Storytalers

The Storytalers are all about bringing stories, songs and rhymes to life! We believe in the magic of storytelling and want to take children on a journey through some of the best-loved stories in the English language, inviting them to get involved, become part of the tale and experience it from the inside. We have two separate programmes for different age groups:

• Tiny Tales for children aged 2-4
• Tall Tales for children aged 5-8

About Tiny Tales

Tiny Tales is the Storytalers programme for children aged 2-4 years and their parents. It is a fun, interactive hour of songs, rhymes and storytelling. The English language is a treasure trove of songs and stories that can be a huge source of joy for young children and their parents. The children quickly pick up the rhythmic, expressive language and simple movements and get great satisfaction out of repeating them and sharing them with their parents. Please note: Tiny Tales is not an English as a foreign language programme. It is aimed at children who understand the language as the programme will be held entirely in English. However, non-English speaking children are of course welcome to attend with their parents acting as interpreters if necessary.
Tiny Tales is run by Julia.

About Julia

Born of an English father and a German mother, Julia is a bilingual actress. She has always had a particular passion for children's theatre and has worked extensively in this field, both as an actress and author of several plays for children. She is a founding member of Open House Theatre, an English-language theatre based in Vienna, where she is both an ensemble member and the company's Educational Manager. In 2016, her daughter Emily was born. One of Emily and Julia's favourite pastimes is singing, dancing and reading together and they've built up quite a repertoire of rhymes, songs and stories. After experiencing how much joy both parent and child get out of this, Julia would love to share this activity with other children in her Tiny Tales programme!

Tall Tales

Tall Tales is a programme for children that combines, story telling, music, drama, imaginative play and art in English. The aim of each hour-long workshop is for children to learn English in a playful environment. Emma has developed lots of her own story telling materials including a giant storybook. First the story is read to the children, who are then invited to play the story to each other, using specially made props and costumes. This is a good way to encourage co-operation and respect within the group, as the children must listen to each other and take turns for this to work. For each Tall Tale an original but simple song has been specially crafted for the children to learn. When we have finished acting the story the children make their own fold-up storybook to complete and personalise and then share with their family and friends.

About Emma

Emma comes from Ireland, which probably has something to do with her life long interest in fairy tales and mythology. She studied design and applied arts in Edinburgh College of Art. After graduating she worked in theatre, film and television as a costume designer and also gained experience in set design. She moved to Austria in 2014 and began to work as a native English speaking teaching assistant in a primary school in Vienna in 2015. During this time she started to combine her work with children with her background in theatre, and soon after she set about developing the Tall Tales project. Some years later it is finally ready and she cannot wait to share it with the children of Vienna.

Contact

Tiny Tales: julia[at]storytalers.at
Tall Tales: emma[at]storytalers.at

Julia C. Lotz
Kegelgasse 37-39/2
1030 Wien, Österreich