Search Interviews

This is about Kaniyahs life

In this interview, conducted in November 2017 in fortuna California. Ryan Gonzalez(15) interviews his grandmother Debbi Kalish(69) about her childhood and moving from the East Coast to the West Coast. Debbi tell stories about trips to Mexico and moving from...

A conversation between Andrew Sa and Mareva Lindo. Andrew talks about his experiences taking the class Songwriting and the Creative Process with Sue Demel and describes the experience as group therapy and recommends the experience to everyone because it teaches...

Discussion about what makes a leader and how to become a good leader :)

I interviewed Sarah, who’s my best friend, we are both 15. We talked about dance and her experience with it.

Hannah and Mr. Truong have a conversation at the end of Hannah's junior year of high school.

A conversation between Larry Rand & Skip Landt. This conversation was recorded at the school on July 26th, 2017. Go to www.oldtownschool.org/StoryCorps to hear selected excerpts from interviews collected as part of the StoryCorps-Old Town School partnership.

This interview was about life being a dancer and putting on show and working in professional dance companies.

Talking about her life so far.

I interviewed my sister my Melody Norman we talked about her teenage years and how she got through high school. We talked about spirituality, kids , her future, and her career 

Aaryn is a fantastic dancer she started when she was three and she has dedicated part of her life to it!

A conversation between Ron Cohen & Bob Riesman. This conversation was recorded at the school on May 8th, 2017. Go to www.oldtownschool.org/StoryCorps to hear selected excerpts from interviews collected as part of the StoryCorps-Old Town School partnership.

Not being a ballerina

A conversation between Mehran Jalili & Maya Tatiana. This conversation was recorded at the school on July 25th, 2017. Go to www.oldtownschool.org/StoryCorps to hear selected excerpts from interviews collected as part of the StoryCorps-Old Town School partnership.

In this interview, conducted in November 2017 in Flint, Michigan, Senia Langston (15) interviews her mom Leigh Langston (42) about her life growing up. Leigh talks about her passion about writing. She also talks about being raised by a single...

A conversation between friends, longtime musical collaborators, and fellow Old Town School teachers Jonas Friddle and Anna Jacobson. Jonas is a singer, songwriter and old-time banjo player whose songs have received The John Lennon Songwriting Award, First Place in the...

Saladeen Alamin has been teaching Latin Dance at the Old Town School for over two decades. In this conversation with his wife, Rosita Ragin-Alamin, they talk about his early years as an acrobatic mambo dancer, his reflections on teaching at...

Juan is simply one of the most amazing people I have ever met. He works in the maintenance department at OTS. He is loving, passionate, thoughtful and willing to do whatever needs to be done. I feel so lucky to...

Alisa Baum and Krista Ortgiesen started taking classes and volunteering at the Old Town School in the early 2000s, and haven't left since. In this excerpt of a conversation recorded at the school on March 22nd, 2017, the longtime friends...

Jimmy T., as he is affectionately known by all, is one of the most familiar faces at the Old Town School. Now the head of the Guitar, Bass and Songwriting program, Jimmy's worked here since starting in the music store...

Betty Nudelman speaks with documentarian Mareva Lindo about her memories of the Old Town School community in its early years, when it was housed within the Immigrant State Bank Building at 333 W North Ave--in the Old Town neighborhood from...

Musician and historian Stephen Wade talks with his friend Matt Brown about Stephen's musical beginnings, studying banjo with his mentor Fleming Brown in the 1970s, and his reflections on the Old Town School then and now. Since learning to play...

Donovan Shaw (16) interviews his grandma Paulette Shaw (70). They discussed the struggles of being African American (5:35). Paulette talked about growing up in Alabama and moving to Michigan. The change was different for her. She discussed meeting the love...

When a young Reggio "The Hoofer" McLaughlin first started tap dancing in Chicago, venues turned him away at the door, saying "we haven't booked a tap dancer since 1945!" In this conversation with his coworker Mareva Lindo, he talks about...

Carlton Highsmith (70) and his mentee, James Brockington (31), talk about entrepreneurship and the Edward A. Bouchet Scholarship. James talks about the Tia Russell Dance Studio and the work he and his wife are doing in Connecticut to teach young...