Nicole Stewart is a sixth generation Dallasite. She attended the Hockaday School then graduated summa cum laude and with honors in theatre from Northwestern University in 2001. She pursued a professional acting career in New York City and then Los Angeles, where her passion for true, personal storytelling was ignited. After twelve years away, Nicole moved back to her hometown and started the live storytelling series Oral Fixation (An Obsession with True Life Tales). She has produced 19 shows, each with a different theme and featuring regular Dallas folks reading aloud their stories edited by Nicole. The third season of Oral Fixation will commence later this month at a new venue: Hamon Hall in the Winspear Opera House, right here in the Dallas Arts District. Nicole has also directed theatre at the Episcopal School of Dallas, volunteered with Planned Parenthood's acting troupe TACT (TeenAge Communication Theatre), and was commissioned by the Dallas Holocaust Museum to write a short play about teens in the Holocaust that played for an audience of 1300 people at their annual fundraising dinner in October 2012. Nicole has been named one of Dallas' Most Interesting People and Best Future Arts Leader, both by the Dallas Observer. She spoke on the theme "Light My Fire" at the PechaKucha event at the Nasher Museum in August in celebration of the Texas Sculpture Association's 30th anniversary. For podcasts, videos and more, please visit www.oralfixationshow.com. Nicole would like to thank her extraordinary husband Anton Schlesinger for his love and support.
About TEDx:
In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)
