As part of the 2016 Fall Puppet Forum Series, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut will present a discussion with acclaimed New York puppeteer Theodora Skipitares entitled Puppetry, Performance, and the Scale of Things on Wednesday, September 14 at 7 p.m. in the Ballard Institute Theater, located at 1 Royce Circle in Storrs Center.
Visual artist, director, and puppeteer Theodora Skipitares has been creating evocative and spectacular works of puppet and object performance for over 25 years. Trained as a sculptor and theater designer, she combined these two art forms to develop such award-winning puppet productions as The Age of Invention, A Harlot’s Progress, Trilogy, and most recently, Six Characters. In her presentation Skipitares will elaborate upon her processes of creation, the interdisciplinary influences on her work, and the dramatic variety of puppets she creates, ranging from the massive to the miniature.
Upcoming 2016 Fall Puppet Forums include:
October 12: The Future of Puppetry at UConn, with Pam Arciero (Sesame Street), Stephen Kaplin (Chinese Theatre Works), and Rob Saunders (Animax Designs), moderated by Bart. P. Roccoberton, Jr.
November 16: Object, Image, Text: The Bread & Puppet Press, with Max Schumann (Printed Matter) and Clare Dolan (Museum of Everyday Life)
December 7: Making Marionette Theater with Frank Ballard, with Steven Brezzo (Opar, Inc.), Fred Thompson (Eugene O’Neill Theater Center), and Steve Abrams (Editor, Puppetry Journal)
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. Visit bimp.uconn.edu or call 860.486.8580 for more information.
September 24: The Pirate, the Princess and the Pea by Crabgrass Puppet Theatre
October 15: Rumpelstilskin by Dream Tale Puppets
November 5: The Doubtful Sprout by Liz Joyce & A Couple of Puppets
December 3: The Snowflake Man by Puppetkabob
Ana Crăciun-Lambru is a Romanian puppeteer, actress, and director currently living in the United States. In Romania, she worked as a freelance puppeteer and actress since 2007. Her work included commedia dell’arte and puppet theatre performances, and she collaborated with dancers from the National Bucharest Opera in various contemporary dance productions. In 2013 Ana participated with her group, Uninvented Theatre, in Romania’s Got Talent and brought new ideas to the local puppetry scene. In the United States Ana performed in Goblin Market (Connecticut Repertory Theatre) and in The Puppetmaster of Lodz (UConn Dramatic Arts Department). Other credits include: shadow master for Band of the Black Hand (Connecticut Repertory Theatre), puppeteer for L’enfant et les sortilèges, Noah’s Ark, and Hansel and Gretel (UConn Opera), puppeteer for Puppets Take the Pops (Boston Pops Orchestra), dancer and puppeteer for Gladys-A life of Confinement (Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry), and creator and performer for her Master of Fine Arts project Dust(Connecticut Repertory Theatre).
Shane McNeal, a third-year MFA candidate in the UConn Puppet Arts Program and native of Bristol, CT has been interested in the art of puppetry for well over a decade. Coming from a background in early childhood education, McNeal has always enjoyed entertaining children of all ages with puppets and storytelling. Over the last two years, McNeal has acted as a puppeteer in several projects, including the children’s television pilot of Treeples and in Hartford’s annual performances of Night Fall and Envision Fest. More recently, he performed in ECHO, the UConn Puppet Arts MFA puppet production by Christopher D. Mullens; and assisted with creating, designing, and performing a puppet production with the Boston Pops in this May. McNeal also performed Canteen Tales: Quest for the Golden Spork as part of the 2016 Summertime Saturday Puppet Show Series.
UConn Puppet Arts MFA candidate Krista Weltner was recently seen performing in a UConn Puppet Arts and Boston Pops collaboration called Puppets Take The Pops. She also completed a stop-motion animated short film entitled Partially Compensated, which she presented this past semester in partial completion of her MFA degree. Last summer she performed in Reverse Cascade at the Puppeteers of America National Puppetry Festival and the National Puppetry Conference at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center.
During his three years of study at UConn’s Puppet Arts Program, Gavin Cummins has worked as a Graduate Assistant at the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry. He is delighted to once again be part of the Summertime Saturday Puppet Show series, while also serving as technical assistant for the entire project. He has previously performed George and Martha and The Nature of Nature at the Ballard Institute. Gavin began puppeteering in Seattle, and has presented works as a puppet slam performer across the country, including at La Mama Theater, Puppet Showplace Theater, and the 2013 National Puppet Slam. He is the founder of the Salmagundi Puppet Cabaret at the Ballard Institute and the Fussy Cloud Puppet Slam in Seattle. In 2015 he was named an Emerging Artist at the National Puppetry Conference at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. Gavin recently presented his MFA production Ok, Love You, Bye as part of the Connecticut Repertory Theatre’s MFA Puppet Arts Festival.
Gwendolyn Rooker is an actor, clown, writer, and musician who holds a Certificate of Training from the Dell‘Arte International School of Physical Theatre. As a volunteer for Clowns Without Borders, Gwen shares laughter with children whose communities are in crisis in Egypt, Sudan, Colombia, Kenya, Haiti, and the U.S. She has worked for Brat Productions as a puppeteer in Haunted Poe, as a sassy singer in Three Chord Fiction, and as Dagoo in Moby Dick Rehearsed. She is one of the Six Lady Dancers for singer Johnny Showcase, has appeared in Shakespeare in Clarke Park’s productions of Twelfth Night and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
As part of its popular Summertime Saturday Puppet Shows for family audiences by UConn Puppet Arts students, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut will present Jacks in the Box by UConn Puppet Arts MFA student Mark Blashford on Saturday, July 9 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the Ballard Institute Theater located at 1 Royce Circle, Storrs, CT.
As part of its popular Summertime Saturday Puppet Shows for family audiences by UConn Puppet Arts students, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry will present Canteen Tales: Quest for the Golden Spork by UConn Puppet Arts MFA student and Connecticut native Shane McNeal on Saturday, July 2 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the Ballard Institute Theater located at 1 Royce Circle, Storrs, CT.