Month: October 2017

“Sleeping Beauty” by Tanglewood Marionettes on 11/4 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.

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As part of its Fall Puppet Performance Series, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry will present Sleeping Beauty by Tanglewood Marionettes on November 4, 2017 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. in the Ballard Institute Theater, located at 1 Royce Circle in Storrs Center.

A classic tale that appeals to children of all ages, Sleeping Beauty begins in King Felix’s great hall with the celebration of Princess Aurora’s birth. The party goes awry when the Wicked Witch arrives and curses the princess. Will the curse come true? Will someone with a “true heart” appear? Join us as Tanglewood Marionettes performs this beloved fairy tale with beautifully handcrafted marionettes brought to life by a master puppeteer. Recommended for ages 4+.

Founded in 1993 by Anne Ware and Peter Schaefer, Tanglewood Marionettes is a nationally touring marionette theater based in New England. Their repertoire consists primarily of classic tales performed by skilled puppeteers who have spent many years perfecting their art. The company’s large, beautifully handcrafted marionettes, colorful sets, and integrated lighting and sound create a fully immersive theatrical experience. Tanglewood Marionettes has received two Citations for Excellence in the Art of Puppetry from UNIMA-USA (the American center of the Union International de la Marionette).

Ticket Prices: Adults: $12; Members/Seniors $10; Students: $8; Kids: $6 (12 years and under)

Tickets can be purchased in advance at the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry, by calling 860-486-8580, or online at bimp.ticketleap.com. A surcharge will be added to any purchases made online. Tickets may also be purchased at the Ballard Institute on the day of performance starting at 10 a.m. There will be open seating and no reservations. Visitors can park in the Storrs Center Garage located at 33 Royce Circle. Parking in the Storrs Center Garage is free for the first two hours and $1 per hour thereafter, with a daily maximum charge of $8. For more information about these performances, visit bimp.uconn.edu or call 860-486-8580.

“Puppet Riches: The Angst Collection at Yale University” with Matthew Cohen on 11/30 at 7 p.m.

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As part of the 2017 Fall Puppet Forum Series, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut will present a discussion with puppet scholar and historian Matthew Cohen entitled Puppet Riches: The Angst Collection at Yale University on November 30, 2017 at 7:00 p.m. in the Ballard Institute Theater, located at 1 Royce Circle in Storrs Center.

Dr. Cohen, equally acclaimed as a puppet scholar and rod-puppet master, will discuss the rich and exciting details of the new Dr. Walter Angst and Sir Henry Angest collection of over 20,000 Javanese rod puppets and shadow figures at the Yale University Art Gallery—the world’s largest collection of Indonesian puppets.

Matthew Isaac Cohen is Professor of International Theatre and Director of the Centre for Asian Theatre and Dance at Royal Holloway, University of London. He is a historian and anthropologist of Southeast Asian theater and world puppetry, and performs wayang kulit (shadow puppet theatre) under the nom-de-stage of Ki Kanda Buwana, a royal title and name given by the royal court of Kacirebonan of West Java, Indonesia. He has held visiting appointments and fellowships at Sanata Dharma University in Indonesia, the University of Malaya in Malaysia, the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences and the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry. In the fall of 2017, he is a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Yale University Art Gallery, researching and helping to curate the Angst collection. Dr. Cohen’s most recent book is Inventing the Performing Arts: Modernity and Tradition in Colonial Indonesia (University of Hawaii Press, 2016).

Admission to this event is free (donations greatly appreciated!), and refreshments will be served. Come early, and experience our puppet exhibitions, as well as the video resources in our library nook. Visitors can park in the Storrs Center Garage located at 33 Royce Circle. Parking in the Storrs Center Garage is free for the first two hours and $1 per hour thereafter, with a daily maximum charge of $8. Forums will be broadcast via Facebook Live. Call 860-486-8580 for more information or visit bimp.uconn.edu.

Main Galleries Closed 10/10-10/18 (Museum Still Open!)

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From October 10-18, 2017, Ballard Institute staff will be deinstalling our current exhibition Obstreperous Puppets and installing our new exhibition Mascots! Mask Performance in the 21st Century.  While the main galleries at the Ballard Institute will be closed during this process, the museum will remain open during normal business hours, and our exhibit titled The World of Puppetry: From the Collections of the Ballard Institute will be on display in the lobby.

We  invite you to join us for the grand opening of Mascots! on October 19 at 5:30 p.m. at the Ballard Institute. The opening events will include refreshments and a free tour by Ballard Institute staff.

UConn Avery Point Exhibit: “Sailors, Sea Creatures and Strings: Maritime Puppets from the Collections of the Ballard Institute,” 10/11-12/17

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UConn Avery Point, in collaboration with UConn School of Fine Arts and the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut presents Sailors, Sea Creatures and Strings: Maritime Puppets from the Collections of the Ballard Institute in the exhibition space located on the second floor of Branford House at UConn Avery Point. UConn Avery Point is located at 1084 Shennecossett Road, Groton, Connecticut 06340. The exhibition will be on display through Dec. 17, 2017.

In a special guest exhibition at UConn’s Avery Point campus, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry presents Sailors, Sea Creatures, and Strings, an installation of puppets performed in popular maritime tales. The exhibit features marionettes, rod puppets, and set pieces from late UConn Puppet Arts Program founder Frank Ballard’s productions of Gilbert and Sullivan’s H.M.S. Pinafore (1989) and Wagner’s Ring of the Nibelung (1980). The exhibit also highlights marionettes created by famed Waterford, Connecticut puppeteers Rufus and Margo Rose from their celebrated 1937 production of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island. The exhibition’s curator, Matt Sorensen, a UConn Puppet Arts graduate student and the Ballard Institute’s graduate assistant, will lead a tour of the exhibition at the opening reception.

Exhibition hours will be Thursday through Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. from Oct. 12 through Dec. 17, 2017. Admission to the exhibition is free.

 

“Mascots! Mask Performance in the 21st Century,” 10/19/17-2/11/18

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The world of mascots is one of the most vibrant and active areas of contemporary mask performance in the United States. With their combination of costumes and over-life-size head masks, mascots are stunning symbolic representations of professional, college, and high-school sports teams, companies, and other organizations. Through their performances at sporting events, parades, theme parks, street corners, and other venues, mascots represent powerful ideas of community, team spirit, and organizational identity. The Ballard Institute’s Mascots! exhibition will examine the creators, history and social context of mascots in North America, and bring together exciting examples of contemporary and historic mascots ranging from the collegiate level with UConn’s Jonathan the Husky, Big Jay and Baby Jay from the University of Kansas, and Lil’ Red from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, to famous major-league mascots including the Boston’s favorite mascot; Winger, the former mascot of the Washington Capitols; Clutch from the Houston Rockets, the Famous San Diego Chicken, and more.