MIAMI, July 8, 2020 – Storybook Picnic at Home! (Picnic de Libros ¡en casa!) kicks-off its second season at 11 a.m. on Saturday, July 11, with storytelling, music and dance. This year’s virtual Picnic de Libros offer a free, bilingual multidisciplinary event to interest kids in literature and the arts through stories, poems, tongue twisters, riddles and music. Storybook Picnic at Home! is a collaboration between Miami Dade College’s (MDC) Koubek Center and Fundación Cuatrogatos, with the support of the Miami Book Fair. It will be broadcast via Facebook Live @KoubekCenterMDC.
“It’s been a very enriching experience. Adapting an event designed for real spaces, such as a garden or auditorium, to a virtual platform is extremely difficult, but I believe we have achieved it,” said Antonio Orlando Rodríguez, writer and founding member of Fundación Cuatrogatos. “This season will feature amazing returning artists, as well as new local talent.”
Camila Rodríguez is returning as a host for Saturday’s event, which will also feature storytellers Marilyn Romero and Geraldine Townson; actors and mimes Catalina Arenas and Orlando Arias, from Creative Stage Productions; musician Michael Gil and hip hop and break-dancer artist Samy Hawk.
Others include writer and theater director Eddy Díaz Souza, from Artefactus Cultural Project, who will bring new stories from towns around the world; actor and storyteller Leonardo Van Schermbeek; actor Danly Arango; musician Héctor Eduardo “Pepo” Herrera; and the singer Rita Rosa Ruesga, whose recordings of children’s music were nominated for Latin GRAMMYs.
Future Storybook Picnic events will feature singer Gema Corredera and the actor and playwright Neher Jacqueline Briceño, a professor at the Adriana Barraza Acting Studio.
WHAT: Storybook Picnic at Home! (Picnic de Libros ¡en casa!)
WHEN: Saturday, July 11, 11 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
Saturday, July 25, 11 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
Saturday, August 8, 11 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
Saturday, August 22, 11 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
WHERE: Facebook @KoubekCenterMDC
The Koubek Center
A South Florida landmark with a long and rich history as a cultural hub, The Koubek Center is dedicated to building community through the arts. Over the past several decades, the Center has offered a variety of activities including workshops, art exhibitions, theater performances, literary readings, and concerts. It is a place for artists and local arts organizations to explore and experiment, engage in collaborations and share their work with the community. The Koubek Center includes a 200-seat theater, an expansive garden, classrooms, and rehearsal and multi-use spaces. Built in 1929 by Austrian trader John J. Koubek as a gift to his wife, it was later donated to the University of Miami and acquired by Miami Dade College in 2011. www.koubekcenter.org
Fundación Cuatrogatos
Cuatrogatos Foundation is a non-profit organization which develops educational and cultural programs encouraging the joy of reading and a passion for books and literature among children and young adults in Miami. As part of their ongoing efforts, they organize author visits to local schools and seminars for parents and teachers. They also produce the annual Children’s Literature and Reading Seminar in November with the Miami Book Fair. www.cuatrogatos.org.
MDC Koubek Center contact: Adriana Oliva, 786-252-9920, adriana@aoinsight.com.