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Moonlight Tales: Asian American Stories

Adults

Join two storytellers, one musical group, and a wonderful emcee for a storytelling experience under the stars, for adults.

With stories and music, the following performers will illustrate what it is to be Asian American in North America...

Motoko (storyteller)

The recipient of the National Storytelling Network’s 2017 Circle of Excellence Award, Motoko has enchanted audiences of every age since 1993. She trained with master mime Tony Montanaro and renowned Appalachian storyteller Elizabeth Ellis. Motoko’s repertoire includes Asian folktales, Rakugo and Zen tales, ghost stories, mime vignettes, as well as oral memoirs from her childhood in Osaka and her life as an immigrant in the U.S.

Motoko has appeared on PBS’ Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, and has been featured in festivals and theaters across the U.S., most notably, the National Storytelling Festival, Timpanogos Storytelling Festival, Bay Area Storytelling Festival, and the Provincetown Playhouse at NYU. Storytelling has taken her to China, Japan, Senegal, and the U.A.E. Her story recordings won a Parents’ Choice Silver Honor Award, a Storytelling World Award, and a National Parenting Publications Award. She is the author of A Year in Japan: Folktales, Songs and Art for the Classroom.

Dr. Joel Ying (storyteller)

Dr. Joel Ying is a Physician-Educator-Storyteller. With eclectic folk tales and unique personal stories, his storytelling range, like his practice of medicine, bridges the traditional and the modern. Storytelling is not just a performance art, but a healing art. He performs regularly, teaches workshops, produces events, and loves listening to a good story.

Fushu Daiko (musical group)

Founded in 1990, Fushu Daiko is a South Florida based, taiko drumming ensemble, delighting and energizing the South Florida community through dynamic performances, concerts and workshops. And continually enriching our community by teaching the art of taiko.

We have traveled to and performed in Germany, Brazil, New York City, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, San Francisco, Seattle, and during the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington D.C.

Monica Shang, Director of the Chinese Performing Arts Group (emcee)

Ms. Monica Shang/孟锦红 was a former TV hostess of the local Chinese language teaching program for Channel 19 of T.E.N. (The Education Network, 2004-2008). She was also the Founding President for CLTA-FL (Chinese Language Teachers’ Association-FL) and a former president for CASEC (Chinese Association of Science, Education and Culture of S. FL). She has been on Board of several Chinese and American organizations for a couple of decades. She currently serves as vice president of Women's Charity Fundation of Florida and is founder of the Chinese Performing Arts Group. 

This event is in conjunction to NEA Big Read 2025. In January and February, Broward County Libraries is hosting a series of programs around the title "To Live" by Yu Hua. 

Moonlight Tales is made possible by Friends of the Fort Lauderdale Libraries. 

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