The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry and the UConn Puppet Arts Program will present the 2020 UConn Winter Puppet Slam on Friday, Feb. 7, 2020 at 8 p.m. in UConn’s von der Mehden Recital Hall, located at 875 Coventry Rd, Storrs, Conn. 06269. The UConn Winter Puppet Slam will feature short works by professional puppeteers and performers from around New England, including BodyWave and Amy West, as well as new works by UConn Puppet Arts students.

The 2020 UConn Winter Puppet Slam will showcase the work of BodyWave, a Boston-based collective of artists and performers who will present The Good Oak, a crankie (or moving scroll performance) inspired by Aldo Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac which incorporates live music and over 30 puppets to show the life of one tree over more than a century. Come early to the von der Mehden lobby to see BodyWave’s Miniature Migration, an audience-of-one show about Sandhill Cranes on Nebraska’s Platte River.  

Amy West, a puppeteer, alumna of the UConn Puppet Arts certificate program, and a writer, photographer, and wedding DJ from Boston, will perform her new work Coming Home to You, a shadow crankie celebrating the annual Falcon Ridge Folk Festival in the Berkshires.

The UConn Winter Puppet Slam will also feature new works by UConn graduate and undergraduate students from the university’s Puppet Arts Program. Funding for the UConn Winter Puppet Slam is made possible in part by the Puppet Slam Network.

The UConn Winter Puppet Slam is free and open to the public; donations are greatly appreciated. Seating is limited and is on a first-come, first-served basis. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. The event will take place in UConn’s von der Mehden Recital Hall located at 875 Coventry Rd, Storrs, Conn. For directions to the von der Mehden Recital Hall, visit vdm.uconn.edu. These performances are recommended for mature audiences. For more information about these performances or if you require an accommodation to attend this event, please contact Ballard Institute staff at 860-486-8580 or bimp@uconn.edu.

For its 2020 Spring Puppet Forum Series, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut will host four free scintillating discussions with nationally and internationally acclaimed puppeteers, scholars, and artists on Wednesday and Thursday evenings at 7 p.m. in February through April in the Ballard Institute Theater, located at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs. The forums will illuminate new perspectives on the creation, history, aesthetics, and performance of puppetry today. 

The Spring Puppet Forum schedule will include the following talks: 

Thursday, Feb. 20: “Walt Whitman and Lively Materiality” with Jane Bennett

Internationally famed scholar Jane Bennett, of Johns Hopkins University, is an interdisciplinary political theorist and philosopher best known in the puppetry world for her work on “the material world in performance,” especially her influential bestseller Vibrant Matter: A Political Ecology of Things. Drawing from her new book Influx and Efflux: Writing Up with Walt Whitman, Professor Bennett will speak about Whitman’s sense of “lively materiality” and the implications such ideas for puppetry studies and other subjects. Co-sponsored by UConn’s Philosophy, Political Science, and English Departments, Humanities Institute, and American Studies Program. 

CANCELLED: Thursday, March 26: “Puppets and Little Shop of Horrors” with Martin P. Robinson, Rob Cutler, and Will Smith

Join famed Sesame Street puppeteer Martin P. Robinson and Puppet Arts graduate students Rob Cutler and Will Smith in a discussion of puppetry and Little Shop of Horrors. Robinson, who designed, built, and performed all of the Audrey II puppets for the original Off-Broadway production of Little Shop, as well as for its Broadway incarnation, will talk with Cutler and Smith about the design and performance of puppets for the professional stage, in the context of Smith and Cutler’s work on the upcoming Connecticut Repertory Theatre’s April 23-May 3 production of Little Shop. Special ticket discounts for the CRT production will be available at this event!

CANCELLED: Thursday, April 2: “Things That Act Shakespeare” with Jungmin Song

Professor Jungmin Song discusses the ideas behind her new Ballard Institute exhibition Shakespeare and Puppetry, which questions our preconceptions of character and asks what it means for objects to have stage presence. Jungmin will consider Shakespeare productions by such puppeteers and performers as Forced Entertainment, Hogarth Puppets, and the Little Angel Theatre from England; ShadowLight Productions, Fred Curchack, Jim Rose, Bread and Puppet Theater, and Great Small Works from the U.S.; and Dov Weinstein from Israel. 

CANCELLED: Wednesday, April 29: “Engineering in Puppetry” with Ed Weingart

Preceded by a special 6 p.m. reception for Engineering and Fine Arts students, faculty, staff, and the general public, this forum features Professor Ed Weingart, Technical Director of UConn’s Connecticut Repertory Theatre. Weingart will discuss how engineering and puppetry have been deeply intertwined in his work with famed puppeteer Basil Twist’s 2015 New York production of Sisters Follies: Between Two Worlds, and visual artist Jordan Wolfson 2016 puppet installation Colored Sculpture. The essence of puppetry is the movement of objects in time and space, practices which are also at the heart of mechanical engineering and the theatrical work of rigging. How is such movement achieved in modern art and theater in the performance of engineering in puppetry?  Co-sponsored by the UConn Schools of Engineering and Fine Arts. 

Admission to these events 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. Forums will be broadcast via Facebook Live. For more information or if you require an accommodation to attend a forum, please contact Ballard Institute staff at 860.486.8580 or bimp@uconn.edu.

 

The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut will host its 2020 Spring Puppet Performance Series on four Saturdays from February to May 2020, featuring outstanding works of puppet theater by professional puppeteers from across New England and beyond. Each show will be performed twice, at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. All performances will take place at the Ballard Institute Theater located at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs. 

The schedule of the Spring Puppet Performance Series includes the following:

Feb. 29: Paul Vincent Davis’s Raccoon Tales performed by Brad Shur of Paper Heart Puppets

The animals in the forest are always getting into trouble playing tricks on each other. Will they learn their lessons? This hand-puppet show by famed Boston puppeteer Paul Vincent Davis includes three humorous tales inspired by Native American stories of the Seneca Tribe: How the Fox and the Raccoon Trick Each Other; Why the Blue Jay is Blue and the Gray Wolf Isn’t; and Why the Bear has a Stumpy Tail. This show is 45 minutes long and is recommended for ages 4+. Presented in conjunction with the grand opening of two new exhibits, including Paul Vincent Davis and the Art of Puppet Theater, on Feb. 29 at noon! 

CANCELLED: March 14: She Thinks She’s Queen Elizabeth But She’s Dirty Gerts To Me by PuppetKabob

Have you ever heard the phrase: “She thinks she’s Queen Elizabeth, but she’s Dirty Gerts to me!”? No? Well now that you have, come and explore the story behind the saying in PuppetKabob’s latest pop-up creation Dirty Gerts—a show about growing pains. Made entirely out of repurposed paper products! This show is 50 minutes long and is recommended for ages 5+. 

CANCELLED: April 18: Mr. Cuddles is Missing created by Faye Dupras, with music by Max Weigert 

Have you seen Mr. Cuddles? Join the friends at Cozy Corner as they search hither and thither for Rory’s missing lovie and best friend, Mr. Cuddles. In this family-friendly show audiences are invited into an interactive magical world full of eclectic neighborhood friends, delightful puppet pals, and live movement-based music. This show is 45 minutes long and is recommended for ages 3+.

CANCELLED: May 2: Kitty’s Corner and Other Stories by Dirk Joseph and String Theory Theater

Kitty’s Corner and Other Stories is a puppet show featuring several short vignettes which are sure to delight the entire family. Audiences will be treated to a variety of puppetry formats including marionettes, hand and rod puppets, shadow puppetry, and crankies performed by Dirk and Azaria of Baltimore’s String Theory Theater. This show is 40 minutes long and is recommended for ages 3+.

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 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 or if you require an accommodation to attend an event, please contact Ballard Institute staff at 860-486-8580 or bimp@uconn.edu.

Both the 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. performances of Peter and the Wolf by National Marionette Theatre on Saturday, December 7 are sold out. Check back soon for our Spring Puppet Performance Series lineup!

For its last installment of the 2019 Fall Puppet Forum Series, and in conjunction with the exhibit Immaterial Remains: Can You Preserve a Shadow? curated by Dr. Annie Katsura Rollins, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut will host Chasing Ghosts: Ten Years with the Shadow Puppeteers of China with Dr. Rollins on Thursday, Dec. 5 at 7 p.m. at the Ballard Institute Theater, located at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs. 

Dr. Rollins embarked on an initial research trip to China in 2008 to reconnect with her Chinese heritage, to gain unique shadow puppetry skills and techniques, and to eat some incredible food for the duration of that summer apprenticeship. What she left with at the end of the summer was an insatiable need to understand how this material performance form had been passed down for over a thousand years and what it means to steward transmitted heritage through performance and shadows. This talk reflects on over a decade of apprenticeship and research with the traditional shadow puppeteers of China and the importance and (im)possibilities of chasing our own ghosts. Co-sponsored by UConn’s Asian and Asian American Studies Institute and the UConn Asian American Cultural Center.

Dr. Rollins is a researcher, theatre artist, and practitioner of Chinese shadow puppetry, studying as a traditional apprentice since 2008. Rollins has received a Fulbright Fellowship, the Confucius Institute Joint PhD Research Fellowship and a Canadian SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship for her research. She wrote her dissertation in Concordia University’s Interdisciplinary Humanities PhD program on the transmission of traditional Chinese shadow puppet making methods. Recent venues for exhibitions, lectures and performances include the Art Institute of Chicago, the Montreal Botanical Gardens, the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta, the Virginia Fine Arts Museum, the Linden Center in Yunnan, China, and the Rietveld Academie in the Netherlands. Annie has published articles in Puppetry International, Asian Theatre Journal and Anthropology Now. Rollins recently launched the first English language comprehensive Chinese shadow puppetry site at chineseshadowpuppetry.com.

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. Forums will be broadcast via Facebook Live. For more information or if you require an accommodation to attend a forum, please contact Ballard Institute staff at 860.486.8580 or bimp@uconn.edu. 

As part of its 2019 Fall Puppet Performance Series, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut is pleased to present Peter and the Wolf by National Marionette Theatre on Saturday, Dec. 7 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. in the Ballard Institute Theater, located at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs. This performance will be a part of Downtown Storrs’ 7th-annual Winter Welcome celebration.

Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf has enchanted audiences since its premier in 1936. Based on the original Russian folktale, National Marionette Theatre’s version of the story features the beautiful music from Prokofiev’s orchestral score combined with stunning scenery and hand-crafted marionettes. Set in turn-of-the-century Russia, the production tells the story of how Peter—along with his animal friends—captures the wolf. This show is 50 minutes long and is recommended for all ages.

National Marionette Theatre is one of the oldest continually running touring marionette theaters in the United States. Founded in 1967, this award-winning company has been entertaining and amazing audiences around the world for over forty years. The company specializes in adaptations of popular stories using marionettes as the performance medium. They travel with a fully self-contained theater complete with its own lighting and sound systems. The shows are suitable for family audiences of all ages. 

David J. Syrotiak has been building and performing with the company since his teenage years. As the son of artistic director David Syrotiak Sr., he has been around puppetry all his life. Professionally, David is celebrating his 33rd year as a touring puppeteer. He is dedicated to keeping the tradition of professional puppetry alive in the United States.

Mariana Palade Syrotiak’s relationship with puppetry began in 1987 in her native Romania. She entered the field professionally in 1990 when she was admitted to the Theatre and Film Academy in Bucharest, Romania, from which she graduated in 1994 with a BA in Performing Arts specializing in puppetry. In 1994 she met David Jr. in Charleville-Mézières, France at an international puppetry festival where they both were performing. In 1995 she met David Sr. in Saarbrucken, Germany under the same circumstances. In 1996 she joined both the National Marionette Theatre as well as the Syrotiak family. Currently Mariana is director of the English as a Second Language program at Gannon University. Mariana is equally passionate and committed to the arts, culture, and education. 

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 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 or if you require an accommodation to attend this event, please contact Ballard Institute staff at 860-486-8580 or bimp@uconn.edu.

The Ballard Institute’s presentation of Peter and the Wolf is a part of the 7th-annual Winter Welcome in Downtown Storrs. The Mansfield Downtown Partnership invites you to celebrate the start of the season with music and more! Enjoy a variety of fun activities, check some names off your shopping list, and join in a community sing-along! For more information, visit downtownstorrs.org/winterwelcome.

As part of its 2019 Fall Puppet Performance Series, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut is pleased to present Holiday Punch! by Modern Times Theater on Saturday, Nov. 16 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. in the Ballard Institute Theater, located at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs.

Punch and Judy are almost ready to celebrate Thanksgiving. They’ve got the stuffing, the sweet potatoes, and the cranberry sauce. The only thing they are missing is the turkey. Audiences will split their sides laughing as Mr. Punch tries to catch the main dish, while avoiding crocodiles, his badly-behaved baby and his dog Toby (who looks suspiciously like a skunk). The skillfully-operated hand puppets are chock-full of surprises and tricks, as is the elaborate stage. The show is rounded out with live music played on a variety of instruments, from the ukulele to the bicycle pump. This show is 45 minutes long and is recommended for all ages.

Modern Times Theater has been adapting and updating Punch and Judy shows for over a decade. Co-founders Rose Friedman and Justin Lander are a husband and wife duo, and alumni of the Bread and Puppet Theater. Parents themselves, they strive to present quality entertainment that the whole family can enjoy.

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 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 or if you require an accommodation to attend this event, please contact Ballard Institute staff at 860-486-8580 or bimp@uconn.edu.