The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry presents a one-day toy theater workshop for all ages led by Toy Theater Professor Dr. John Bell on April 25 from 1-5 p.m. Create the grandest of tales with the simplest of means!
Toy theater is the 200-year-old invention of flat, cut-out, table-top puppet shows that kids, adults, and families can create and perform by themselves. Recently re-discovered by artists, performers, and puppeteers as a brilliant means of creating do-it-yourself or professional puppet shows, toy theater has experienced a glorious 21st-century revival.
Join us at the Ballard Institute for this public workshop in toy theater creation, building, and performance. Learn about the history and construction of toy theater stages and puppets, and then create your own personal story – in a box!
Workshop cost: $15/person
There is a limited number of seats, so pre-registration is required. Please contact Emily Wicks, Ballard Institute Program Assistant, at emily.wicks@uconn.edu or 860.486.8585 to register.
Wednesday, February 11: Matthew Cohen, “Playing with Shadows in the Dark”
Scholar and puppeteer Matthew Cohen, an expert historian and performer of Javanese wayang golek rod puppet theater and other forms, talks about his research and performance work. Co-sponsored by the Asian and Asian American Studies Institute.
Wednesday, March 11: Anne Cubberly, “Making Art with Your Community”
Acclaimed Hartford visual artist and spectacle-maker Anne Cubberly, voted “Best Artist” in a 2014 Hartford Magazine poll, talks about her extensive work in Hartford, always with a focus on creativity, process, community, and re-purposed materials.
Wednesday, April 8: Fred Thompson, “Masters of the Marionette: Rufus and Margo Rose”
Puppeteer and teacher Fred Thompson, a mainstay of the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s National Puppetry Conference, first saw Rufus and Margo Rose perform in 1947, and has had a long and illustrious career in Connecticut as a teacher and maker of dance, theater, and puppetry.
Wednesday, April 15: Hua Hua Zhang, “My Work in Chinese and American Puppetry”
UConn Puppet Arts alumna Hua Hua Zhang first studied classic Chinese puppetry techniques at the Beijing Art Academy in her home city. After receiving many awards for her performances as a member of the China Puppet Arts Troupe, she came to UConn’s Puppet Arts Program, earning her MFA degree in 2000. Currently the director of the Philadelphia-based company Visual Expressions, she designs and performs her own work in the U.S. and China, collaborates with such artists as composer Tan Dun. Co-sponsored by the Asian and Asian American Studies Institute.
Admission to these events is free (donations greatly appreciated!), and refreshments will be served. Forums will also be live-streamed on our page: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/forum-live-stream. For more information, call 860.486.8580 or email bimp@uconn.edu.
The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut will host its SpringPuppet Performance Series on four Saturdays from February to May 2015, featuring outstanding works for puppet theater by professional puppeteers. There will be two showings of each production, at 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m., in the Ballard Institute Theater located at 1 Royce Circle in Storrs Center. Productions and dates include:
February 21:The Lion and the Mouse and Other Tales by Crabgrass Puppet Theatre.
With beautiful puppets and scenery, and their signature hilarious style, the award-winning Crabgrass Puppet Theatre presents tales from Africa, Asia and Europe that will inspire and enthrall children of all sizes.
March 14: Squirrel Stole My Underpants by They Gotta Be Secret Agents.
A lonely, awkward girl is sent out to the backyard to hang up the laundry and keep herself busy. The moment Sylvie’s back is turned, a mischievous squirrel appears, steals her favorite piece of clothing and runs off. When the girl gives chase, she finds herself lost in strange lands. As the story unfolds, an entire world emerges from her laundry basket and Sylvie learns that she is a strong girl with magic within herself.
April 11:Hao Bang Ah, Sheep! by Chinese Theatre Works.
Co-sponsored by the Asian and Asian American Studies Institute. This variety-style program directed by Kuang-Yu Fong and Stephen Kaplin, features a jolly selection of hand-puppet vignettes, many based on popular songs and well-known Chinese sayings. While some parts of the program are performed in Chinese, all include English translations and explanations. The audience will be introduced to other animals of the Chinese zodiac, and also learn about Chinese New Year customs and foods. Audience participation makes this Chinese culture and language-learning experience accessible to even the youngest audience member.
May 2:Arjuna’s Meditation by Matthew Cohen, with Gamelan Si Betty, directed by Jody Diamond.
Co-sponsored by the Asian and Asian American Studies Institute. Renowned scholar and Javanese wayang kulit shadow puppet performer Matthew Cohen is joined by Harvard University’s Gamelan Si Betty, directed by Jody Diamond, to present a classic Javanese puppet play about one of the great heroes of the Hindu epic The Mahabharata.
Tickets will be sold in advance through the Connecticut Repertory Theatre Box Office located in the lobby of the Nafe Katter Theatre at 820 Bolton Rd, Storrs CT 06269. Tickets may be purchased in person at the box office, by calling (860) 486-2113, or online through the CRT website. A $3.00 surcharge will be added to any purchases made online or over the phone. Tickets may be purchased at the Ballard Institute on the days of performances. There will be a limited number of seats. For more information about these shows, call (860) 486-8580.
James Godwin in performance. Photograph by Jim Moore.
The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry and the UConn Puppet Arts Program will present the 2015 UConn Winter Puppet Slam on Friday, February 6 at 8:00 p.m. in the Dramatic Arts Department’s Studio Theatre. The UConn Winter Puppet Slam will feature short works by professional puppeteers, including famed New York City performer James Godwin, and the Semi-Upright Puppet Theater (UConn Puppet Arts graduate Joe Therrien and Bread & Puppet Theater veteran Jason Hicks), as well as new works by talented students from UConn’s Puppet Arts, Digital Media & Design, and Art Programs. The UConn Winter Puppet Slam is supported by a generous grant from the Puppet Slam Network.
James Godwin is renowned in New York’s prolific downtown performance scene, writing and performing in such popular productions as Uncle Jimmy’s Dirty Basement; but also works regularly with the Muppets, Julie Taymor, and such musical acts as David Bowie and Aerosmith. At the UConn Winter Puppet Slam Godwin will present Rooty, the story of a lonely plant who finds itself in a battle to save his sanity in the face of solitary confinement; and Simulation Theory, a poetic visual narrative that explores identity, reality and possession in the American workplace. Jason Hicks and Joe Therrien’s Semi-Upright Puppet Theater, also based in New York City, will return to UConn with their own lively brand of activist “cheap art” puppetry that brings the iconoclastic spirit of Punch and Judy into the 21st century with such popular favorites as their super-hero serial Weasel. In addition to new works by UConn’s acclaimed Puppet Arts Program students, the UConn Winter Puppet Slam will also feature new works for film animation by Art and Digital Media students.
The Puppet Slam movement is a nation-wide flowering of short puppet productions for adult audiences, encouraged by the Puppet Slam Network created by Heather Henson and Marsian De Lellis. UConn Puppet Slams have been taking place since 2008, thanks to the generous support of the Puppet Slam Network.
The UConn Winter Puppet Slam is free and open to the public; donations are greatly appreciated. The event will take place in the Studio Theatre located at 820 Bolton Rd, Storrs, CT. For directions to the Studio Theatre, visit crt.uconn.edu/directions/. For more information, call the Ballard Institute at (860) 486-8580 or email us at bimp@uconn.edu.
On Saturday, December 20 Puppet Arts Program graduate students Sarah Nolen and Ana Craciun will perform “Puppets on a Holiday” at 1:00 pm and 3:00 pm at the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry.
“Puppets on a Holiday” is a family-friendly puppet variety show that will bring good cheer to every heart!
Using hand puppets, marionettes, and table-top puppetry, Sarah and Ana welcome you to their very own holiday celebration.
Tickets will be sold at the door, cash only. Kids: $5 Adults: $7
Contact Sarah Nolen at sarah.nolen@uconn.edu with questions.
Michael Winograd’s acclaimed Yiddish Art Trio, known around the world for its stunning reinterpretions of klezmer music will perform for the first time in eastern Connecticut at the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry on Friday, December 12 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets will be sold on the night of the performance at the door for $10 ($8 for students), payable by cash or check.
Featuring three of New York’s most celebrated klezmer musicians—Benjy Fox-Rosen and Patrick Farrell in addition to Winograd–the Yiddish Art Trio blends infectious traditional melodies with new compositions, sumptuous chamber music-like arrangements and breathtaking improvisations. This rising new ensemble is out to redefine the sound of contemporary klezmer. The Yiddish Art Trio is currently on tour to celebrate the release of its new self-titled album with a series of concerts in the East Coast and California.
The trio formed in early 2009 as the Michael Winograd Klezmer Trio, and has toured nationally and internationally to critical acclaim, most recently teaching in Germany at Yiddish Summer Weimar 2014, whose theme was “New Yiddish Music.” These three performer/composers are stretching the limits of tradition, re- composing and re-contextualizing Yiddish music for the concert hall and the dance floor. They incorporate elements of new classical music, minimalism, and art song, as well as Yiddish vocal music, cantorial music and theater music into an energetic and at times introspective concert program.
The Yiddish Art Trio includes a lineup of internationally accomplished, genre-transcending musicians, who have performed with such noted musicians as Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Frank London, Ben Holmes, Alicia Svigals and others: Patrick Farrell (accordion), Benjy Fox-Rosen (voice and bass) and Michael Winograd (clarinet).
The Ballard Institute will close on Wednesday, December 24 and will reopen on Saturday, December 27 at 11:00 a.m. for regular business hours. The museum will close at 6:00 p.m. on December 31 and will remain closed on January 1.
Amy Trompetter collaborates with East Harlem poet (not4)Prophet in reconfiguring her Punch and Judy show to create Biblical Rapper’s Trilogy. References include the Bible, Medieval mystery plays, Commedia scenarios and the daily news, including recent events in Ferguson, Missouri. The stage is an automated, vertical box with painted backdrops reminiscent of cantastoria balladeers’ picture stories.
Amy Trompetter designs, directs and performs puppet shows. Her roots are in the Bread and Puppet Theater in 1960’s NYC. She is the founder of the Redwing Blackbird Theater, a workshop and performance space in the Hudson Valley.
(not4)Prophet creates and performs hip-hop aesthetic poetry. He is an experimentalist, performance poet, singer, song writer,-activist and Nuyorican-style emoter, with roots in the Nuyorican Poet’s Café. He regularly presents original work in East Harlem and throughout NYC including the Bowery Poetry Club. Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry and the UConn Co-op Bookstore at Storrs Center.
The event will take place in the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry/UConn Co-op Bookstore performance space at 7:30 p.m. on October 15, 2015. Admission is free. Donations are gratefully accepted.
Our first Fall Puppet Forum features puppeteer Amy Trompetter talking about “Buffa & Belly Laughs: A Return to the Roots of Rossini” on September 17 at 7:30 p.m. Trompetter, the creator of the current Ballard Institute exhibition Opera & Giant Puppets, will discuss the creation of her dynamic puppet production of Rossini’s Barber of Seville, and how, in her words, “the magic of puppetry unleashes humor, reveals lyricism, and illuminates the revolutionary spirit of Rossini’s 19th-century opera.”
The rest of the forum schedule includes:
Wednesday, October 1, 7:30 p.m.: Joanne Zerdy and Marlis Schweitzer, Performing Objects and Theatrical Things. Reading, discussion, and book signing for their new anthology from Palgrave Macmillan.
Thursday, October 9, 4:30 p.m.: Dassia Posner, Claudia Orenstein, and John Bell, The Routledge Companion to Puppetry and Material Performance. Reading, discussion, and book signing for their new anthology from Routledge.
Wednesday, October 22, 7:30 p.m.: Blair Thomas, Liminal Worlds: Design in the Puppet Theater. The celebrated Chicago-based puppeteer talks about his aesthetic process, in conjunction with the premiere of his exhibition at the Ballard Institute.
Thursday, December 4, 7:30 p.m.: Winnie Lambrecht, Puppetry and Politics in 1939: The Vagabond Puppeteers. Anthropologist and Rhode Island School of Design professor Winnie Lambrecht premieres her new film about political puppet theater among dairy farmers in upstate New York.
Forums occur in the Ballard Institute Theater. Admission to these events is free (donations greatly appreciated!), and refreshments will be served. This forum will also be live-streamed on our page: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/forum-live-stream
The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut will host its first-ever Fall Puppet Performance Series on four Saturdays from September to December 2014, featuring outstanding works for puppet theater by professional puppeteers from the Northeast. There will be two showings of each production, at 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m., in the Ballard Institute Theater located at 1 Royce Circle in Storrs Center. Productions and dates include:
September 27:Punschi, an enchanting performance for the whole family featuring hand puppets and a miniature circus, by Sandglass Theater in collaboration with Jana Zeller and Shoshana Bass.
Adults: $10; Students: $7; Kids: $5
October 25:The Selfish Giant, by Chicago puppeteer Blair Thomas and singer/songwriter Michael Smith, who use original puppets and music to tell the story of this Oscar Wilde classic about a grumpy old giant and the children of his village who rejuvenate his garden. Special performance in conjunction with the gala opening of Stages of Enchantment: The Little Puppet Theaters of Blair Thomas & Company.
Adults: $12; Students: $8; Kids: $6
November 15:Shadows around the World, a production by famed Connecticut puppet master Jim Napolitano focusing on global history, oral traditions of storytelling, and the international development of shadow puppetry as an art form.
Adults: $10; Students: $7; Kids: $5
December 13:Lava Fossil, by Beth Nixon, a suitcase-theater show about a dad, a crab, a dentist, and where things go when they are gone. Plus! The secret life of eel grass, an ash-encrusted visitor from Pompeii, and how to measure grief with a ruler. Recommended for children aged 11 and above due to show content.
Adults: $10; Students: $7; Kids: $5
Tickets will be sold through the Connecticut Repertory Theatre Box Office located in the lobby of the Nafe Katter Theatre.
The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry presents a one-day toy theater workshop for all ages led by Toy Theater Professor Dr. John Bell on April 25 from 1-5 p.m. Create the grandest of tales with the simplest of means!
