Performances

UConn Spring Puppet Slam next Saturday, February 1

The first performance event of the Ballard Institute’s 2014 season will be the UConn Spring Puppet Slam, on Saturday, February 1 at 8 p.m. at UConn’s Studio Theater.  Admission is free, and donations are greatly appreciated.  This event is produced with generous support from the Puppet Slam Network.

The Spring Puppet Slam will feature, as always, innovative new works and experiments by the talented students of UConn’s Puppet Arts Program, as well as productions by guest artists from around the Northeast.
  Our guest productions next Saturday include the following:

– Fable of the Flying Fox: In this production by the Brooklyn-based Alphabet Arts company, Lawrence Carrillo and Jamie Moore, assisted by Amber West and Chris Borchardt, perform a tabletop show about a gluttonous fox who soars through treetops stealing eggs from unguarded nests.

 

 

– Lover’s Waltz: Another Alphabet Arts production, performed by Lawrence Carrillo and Jamie Moore, this show is a love song between two elders, one with dementia, who have not seen each other for many years, performed with pop-up book scenery designed by Kirsten Kammermeyer. Music/story by Annie Bacon.

 

 

– Michelina De Cesare, La Brigantessa: cantastoria, or picture performance, performed by puppeteers Maryann Colella and Angela DiVeglia, of Boston and Providence respectively, taking on one of the richest traditions of southern Italian popular culture: the romantic lives of the bandits.

 

 

Please join us for what will surely be an exciting and rewarding evening of compelling puppet theater!  These shows will be good for adults, teens, and kids.

 

Let us know if you have any questions!

UConn Fall Puppet Slam Saturday, September 21 to Feature Alumni Performers

The 2013 UConn Fall Puppet Slam, on Saturday evening, September 21 in the Dramatic Arts Department’s Studio Theatre will feature short works by acclaimed alumni of the Puppet Arts Program as well as new works by current students in the program.  For the first time, the UConn Puppet Slam will offer two performances of the same program: at 8 p.m. and at 10 p.m.  Guests at a Ballard Institute fund-raising event will attend the 8 p.m. showing, so the general public is urged to attend to 10 p.m. showing.

Zachery Dorn and Murphi Cook

The Fall Puppet Slam will feature works by Puppet Arts alumni Zachery Dorn, Carole D’Agostino, Dave Regan, and Joseph Therrien.

Pittsburgh-based Zachery Dorn has recently focused on live-streamed internet performances of toy theater productions using hand-held cameras, some of which he will perform at UConn: What Time is it in Berlin? and A Story About the Saddest Story.

 

 

Carole D’Agostino has been performing in New England-area Puppet Slams since 1997.  She will present scenes from The Hoarding Show, a miniature spectacle combining tabletop puppetry, shadow theater, and object theater “about the clutter we keep, mentally and physically in our lives,” including the story of the famous Collyer brothers of New York City.

 

 

Zachery Dorn and Jason Hicks

Joseph Therrien, working with puppeteer Jason Hicks, will present scenes from their handpuppet spectacle Weasel, Citizen Hero, an irreverent series of shows featuring found-object puppets and political satire, which the duo have created at Bread & Puppet Theater, where Therrien is now a company member.

And Dave Regan of Fluke Theater will perform a handpuppet piece entitled Fight or Flyght.

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 Slam Network.

The UConn Fall Puppet Slam is free and open to the public–donations are greatly appreciated.  Both the 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. showings are open to the general public, but more than half of the seats for the 8 p.m. showing will be reserved for fund-raiser attendees.   For directions to the Studio Theater see this site.   For more information call the Ballard Institute at 860 486 0339.

Puppet Arts Students Create Puppet Production of Erik Ehn Play for Human Rights Institute Conference

A Ballard Institute project to support new works for puppetry will culminate in a production of Erik Ehn’s The Architecture of Great Cathedrals on Friday, September 20 at 6:30 at the University of Connecticut Human Rights Institute‘s international “Contexts of Human Rights” conference.  The performance will take place at the Wilber Cross Reading Room at UConn.

Sarah Nolen, Dana Samborski, and Anna Fitzgerald rehearsing

Puppet Arts Program graduate students Anna Fitzgerald, Sarah Nolen, and Dana Samborski, working with Puppet Arts Director Bart Roccoberton and BIMP Director John Bell, conceived, designed, built, and will perform Ehn’s play–part of the playwright’s celebrated Soulographie cycle of dramas about genocide–as a tabletop puppet production which they began to work on last spring.

“I’m extremely excited to see this work,” Dr. Bell said; “the combination of these talented Puppet Arts students and Erik Ehn’s stunning text is going to make for a compelling puppet production.  I’m glad the Human Rights conference participants can see it.”

The first performance of the show will be exclusively for Human Rights conference participants (see their website for registration information); however the Ballard Institute hopes to produce public performances of the production in the future.

Summer Family Puppet Series

This Summer, The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry will once again be presenting puppet shows for all ages performed by students from the famed UConn Puppet Arts Program.

Every Saturday from June 29th to July 27th at 3 pm, join us for these exciting and unique presentations.

Performances will take place at The Puppet Arts Complex (as the Thompson Building on this map) down the street from The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry on UConn’s Depot Campus off US-44.

June 29th, 3 pm: Puppet Arts Family Friendly Potpourri! Vignettes from current Puppet Arts students including “The Fluff Catillion,” a meow-velous toy theater by Dana Samorski and Carianne Hoff, and “The Most Beautiful Tree” a toy theater production by Anna Fitzgerald.

July 6th, 3pm: Seth Shaffer performs Dick Myers’ Cinderella with Myers’ unique rod puppets. Come early or stay late and check out the Dick Myers exhibition at The Ballard Museum.

July 13th, 3pm: Xing Xin’s Shadow Show. Xing Xin Liu’s original pieces of shadow theater, inspired by her studies with Chinese Shadow Puppet masters.

July 20th, 3pm: Seth Shaffer performs Dick Myers’ Beauty and the Beast with Myers’ unique rod puppets. Come early or stay late and check out the Dick Myers exhibition at The Ballard Museum.

July 27th, 3pm: Sarah Nolen’s Tales from the Woods including her shadow puppet performance of “Lisa the Wise.”

 

Performances are $5  for Adults and $3 for children. Come early or stay late to see the current exhibitions at The Ballard Museum.

A Toy Theater by Dana Samborski and Carianne Hoff

 

UConn Puppetry Will Be Featured in “World of Puppetry” Events at Windsor Art Center, March 16-April 27

Giant puppet by Anne Cubberly.

Scores of puppets created by Frank Ballard, UConn Puppet Arts students and teachers, and selections from the Ballard Institute puppet collections will be featured in The World of Puppetry, an exhibition of puppets and accompanying talks, performances, and workshops at the Windsor Art Center in Windsor Connecticut.  Curated by famed Hartford kinetic sculptor and puppeteer Anne Cubberly, The World of Puppetry will feature talks by Puppet Arts Director Bart Roccoberton (April 7), Ballard Institute Director John Bell (April 14), a Puppet Pot Pie Puppet Slam organized by Puppet Arts Technical Supervisor Paul Spirito (April 6), and performances by UConn Puppet Arts alumnus Jim Napolitano (April 18), as well as workshops and presentations by Anne Cubberly herself.

The opening reception for The World of Puppetry is Saturday, March 16.  See below for a full schedule of events.

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The World of Puppetry

Opening Reception March 16, 5-7 PM

Members’ Preview 4:30 PM

The exhibition will feature puppets by UConn Puppet Arts founder Frank Ballard.

Please join us at the Windsor Art Center for this exhibition of puppets, talks, performances and workshops to learn more about the World of Puppetry. Curated by kinetic sculptor, Anne Cubberly. A special thank you to the Puppets Arts Program and Bart Roccoberton, and the Ballard Museum and John Bell, University of Connecticut, Storrs, for the loan of puppets for this exhibition.

Thursday, March, 21 • 6:30-7:30 PM. How I Became The Puppet Lady. Anne Cubberly will talk about her adventures in becoming a kinetic sculptor and community artist. FREE.

Saturday, April 6 • 2-4 PM. Puppet Pot Pie. A program bringing together wonderful puppeteers from our region. Fun for the whole family. Suggested donation: $10/adults; $5/kids 6-12; kids 5 and under FREE.

Sunday, April 7 • 1-2 PM. Behind The Puppet Stage. Talk by Bart Roccoberton, Professor of Puppet Arts, University of Connecticut. FREE.

Saturday, April 13 • 2-4. PM Puppets Alive workshop with Anne Cubberly. Children of all ages make their own puppets. Suggested donation: $5/door.

The exhibition will also include Tolu Bommalatta shadow figures from Andhra Pradesh, from the Jano Fairservis Collection.

Sunday, April 14 • 2 PM. Puppets, Modernism, and Global Culture. Talk by John Bell, Director, Ballard Institute & Museum of Puppetry. FREE.

Thursday April 18 • 6:30-7:30 PM. Puppet theater performance with Jim Napolitano of Nappy’s Puppets to entertain, inspire and educate the audience on the range and scope of puppetry as an art form. Suggested donation: $10/door

Saturday, April 20 • 2-4 PM. Shadow Puppet workshop with Anne Cubberly, Puppeteer. Children and adults. Suggested donation: $5/door.

All events will take place at the Windsor Arts Center, located at the corner of Central Street and Mechanic Street in downtown Windsor, Connecticut, just north of Hartford.  The Arts Center is open Thursday 6 to 8 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sunday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.   See the Windsor Arts Center website for directions.

UConn Puppetry’s Seth Shaffer to present workshop and performances at Benton Museum for UConn Alumni Weekend

UConn Alumni Weekend Special!

Puppetry Arts grad student (class of 2013) and Ballard Institute digital archivist Seth Shaffer will present a workshop/performance at the William Benton Museum of Art on UConn’s Main Campus on Saturday, June 2, from 1:45 p.m. to 2:15 p.m.!

 

Seth writes: “I am very excited to be a part of the Alumni Weekend!  My plan is to do both an interactive demonstration on basic puppet manipulation and a series of short vinettes.  I am planning on building some student puppets in the next two weeks that members of the audience can use to explore manipulation techniques with me.  Then with these simple “student” puppets, I will perform a short story to demonstrate how to practically use a puppet.”

Check it out, and then come visit our museum!Puppet Show with Seth Shaffer, Saturday June 2, 1:45 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. at William Benton Museum of Art.

Great Small Works performance at Wesleyan University Friday and Saturday includes Ballard Institute Director

Ballard Institute director John Bell will perform with the Brooklyn-based theater company Great Small Works Friday and Saturday, February 3rd and 4th at 8 p.m. Wesleyan University’s Center for the Arts.

The performances at Wesleyan will include Three Graces, a cantastoria (picture-based storytelling work) in which three mythical graces-Harmony, Strategy and Splendor-float down to earth for an op-art romp inspired by Grace Paley, Grace Kelly, Grace Jones and Grace Lee Boggs; and Toy Theater of Terror As Usual, Episode 12: Desert and Ocean, a surreal serial drama using excerpted texts and images quickly cut from daily newspapers.

“[Great Small Works has] breathed new, pointed life into the form of toy theater.” – The Village Voice

Tickets are $15 general public; $12 senior citizens and students.

For more information, please visit the Wesleyan University Center for the Arts website.

Join us for the Fall 2011 UConn Puppet Slam, Saturday September 17, for Free!

Katy Laguzza in a 2010 Slam

 

Join us on Saturday, September 17 on UConn’s Main Campus in Storrs for the Fall 2011 UConn Puppet Slam–an exciting array of bold new works for puppet theater by vibrant puppet artists from New York City, Boston, and the University of Connecticut!

The Ballard Institute and UConn’s Puppet Arts Program will host the Fall 2011 UConn Puppet Slam on Saturday, September 17 at 8 p.m. in the Studio Theater of UConn’s School of Dramatic Arts, on 820 Bolton Road in Storrs, Connecticut.

Video by Lani Asuncion from a 2010 Puppet Slam

This UConn Puppet Slam will feature the following artists:

–Jenny Romaine of Great Small Works: “La Ciudad: Magic Box of New York City”

Alissa Hunnicutt: “The Red Dress”

–Sara Peattie and Theresa Linnihan of the Puppeteers Cooperative

… and a sparkling spectrum of new works by students from UConn’s famed Puppet Arts Program!

The performance is free and open to the public!

For more information, contact bimp@uconn.edu, or 860 486 0806.

Summertime Saturday Puppet Shows at the Ballard Institute, June 25-July 23

from Thomas Getchell’s “The Proleptic Voice: A Visual Poem”

The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry will present its first-ever Summertime Saturday Puppet Shows, on Saturday afternoons from June 25 through July 23.  The series features performances of original works by students from UConn’s world-famous Puppet Arts Program, in an exciting variety of puppet forms: marionettes, toy theater, and handpuppets.

The shows will all take place at the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry on UConn’s Depot Campus, Saturdays at 3:30 p.m. (except for the June 25th performance, which begins at 4 p.m.)  Admission is $3 for children, $5 for adults.

***In a special Ballard Institute arrangement with UConn’s Connecticut Repertory Theater, those purchasing tickets for the Saturday, June 25 productions of CRT’s production of Seussical the Musical (2 p.m. or 8 p.m.) at the Nafe Katter Theatre on UConn’s Main Campus will receive free admission to that day’s 4 p.m. Summertime Saturday Puppet Shows.  Show your Seussical the Musical tickets at the door, and see our Summertime Saturday Puppet Show for free!***

Each Summertime Saturday Puppet Show performance will be preceded by guided tours of the Ballard Institute’s current exhibitions—Frank Ballard: An Odyssey of a Life in Puppetry and Frank Ballard: Roots and Branches.  The performances will be hosted by puppeteer Joseph Therrien, who will also perform original songs and music, accompanied by Kali Therrien.

 

Here is the 2011 Summertime Saturday Puppet Show schedule:

The Enchanted Vanity Set

— Saturday, June 25, 4 p.m.— Travis Lope and Leah Sylvain, The Enchanted Vanity Set. A beautiful maiden escapes from a tyrant king with help from an enchanted vanity set—an expertly crafted toy theater full of magical transformations!  And: Travis Lope, Foolish Fortunes.  A gypsy fortune-teller reveals the future to lucky members of the audience!

 

 

The Proleptic Voice

— Saturday, July 2, 3:30 p.m.—Thomas Getchell, excerpts from The Proleptic Voice: A Visual Poem.  A marionette tour-de-force of vignettes revealing themes of Faith, Hope, and Charity in the poetry of one of America’s greatest poets, Emily Dickinson, inspired by her metaphor of life as a circus.

 

 

 

The Adventures of Doggy Poo.

— Saturday, July 9, 3:30 p.m.—Ki Hong Kim, The Adventures of Doggy Poo.  A stunning, vibrant, and humorous tabletop puppet version of a popular Korean children’s story about a lonely piece of poop who finds meaning and acceptance fertilizing a dandelion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

— Saturday, July 16, 3:30 p.m.—Nicole Hartigan, God Paints a Saint.  A marvelous and magical toy theater evocation of 16th-century Mexico, telling the history of the first appearance of the Virgin of Guadalupe—Mexico’s patron saint.

— Saturday, July 23, 3:30 p.m.—Thomas Getchell, excerpts from The Proleptic Voice: A Visual Poem.  A marionette tour-de-force of vignettes revealing themes of Faith, Hope, and Charity in the poetry of one of America’s greatest poets, Emily Dickinson, inspired by her metaphor of life as a circus.