Spring 2021 UConn Puppet Arts Program Final Presentations, 5/6 and 5/7

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The UConn Puppet Arts Program and Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry will host end-of-semester presentations of UConn Puppet Arts undergraduate and graduate work on Thursday, May 6 and Friday, May 7.  Presentations will begin at 7:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, May 6 and at 7 p.m. ET on Friday, May 7.  These presentations will take place on Ballard Institute Facebook Live (facebook.com/BallardInstitute/) and will be available afterwards on the Ballard Institute Facebook page and YouTube Channel (youtube.com/channel/UC3VSthEDnYS6ZjOwzT1DnTg). The performances are recommended for mature audiences.
On Thursday, May 6, Mask Fabrication students instructed by Professor Bart. P. Roccoberton, Jr. will present a portfolio exhibition of plaster face casts they made of themselves, papier måché portrait mask, worbla exaggerated portrait masks and leather Domino and Commedia masks. The Thursday performance will also feature work by Professor Nehprii Amenii’s Directing for the Puppet Theater class, which developed students’ imagination and instincts through experimentations with language and form, helping connect students to their authentic voice, generate work from their inner world, and expand their understanding of “the puppet” beyond conventional character. Professor Amenii’s students will be presenting original works reflecting some of their discoveries along the way. 
On Friday, May 7, final presentations and performances for History of World Puppetry, Toy Theatre, and Puppetry in Television will take place via Facebook Live. Presentations from the History of World Puppetry, taught by Professor John Bell, will examine puppetry in education and the influence of Japanese bunraku theater on U.S. puppetry. Students of Professor Matthew Cohen’s Toy Theatre class will present original performances using figures, sets, and staging constructed from paper and cardboard. Professor Bart. P. Roccoberton, Jr.’s Puppetry in Television class will demonstrate camera techniques developed with guest artist Martin P. Robinson, and offer a lip-sync song (composed by Puppet Arts graduate student Yanniv Frank) performed by foam moving-mouth puppets.
For more information, please contact Ballard Institute staff at bimp@uconn.edu.