To conclude its 2024 Fall Puppet Performance Series, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut is pleased to welcome shadow puppet artist and storyteller Charlotte Lily Gaspard of Midnight Radio Show to perform The Dragon’s Laugh & Other Tales on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. in the Ballard Institute Theater, located at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs.

Join “bonafide fairy princess” Charlotte Lily Gaspard for enchanting original fairytales and songs by her company Midnight Radio Show!  Shadow puppetry breathes life into these delightful short stories of adventure and friendship. In one story, a dragon and a fairy become friends, although their families disapprove. Complications ensue, and the new-found companions must go on a quest together as they prove that friendship can be found anywhere and with anyone. Recommended for ages 5+.

Charlotte Lily Gaspard has been described as “part celestial creature, part sophisticated human,” by Enchanted Living Magazine. A shadow puppet artist and creator of the Brooklyn collective Midnight Radio Show, her mission is to activate imaginations and celebrate playfulness wherever she goes. Midnight Radio Show broadcasts magic to children of all ages, using handmade shadow puppets, live performances, video content, and an actual radio show. Charlotte also creates costumes for theater and film and leads puppetry and theater workshops all over New York City and beyond. Learn more and purchase tickets: http://bimp.ticketleap.com/dragons-laugh.

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 the 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. For more information about these performances or if you require accommodation to attend this event, please contact Ballard Institute staff at 860-486-8580 or bimp@uconn.edu.

The Jim Henson Foundation and The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut are proud to present “American Puppet Theater Today: The Photography of Richard Termine.” This exhibit includes over 130 images and select puppets featured in Termine’s photographs. New York-based photographer Richard Termine has documented American Puppet Theater for over 30 years with a unique perspective that truly invites the viewer into the vivid world of puppetry. Termine brilliantly captures the vibrancy of the performances he photographs; even in static images, the puppets come to life. The photos and objects in the exhibition illustrate the dynamic range of this expansive art form and honor the lively community of artists creating puppet theater, from established experts like Basil Twist and Julie Taymor to emerging artists.  Running from January 31st to May 11, we’re thrilled that the exhibit will be housed in Termine’s alma mater, University of Connecticut. UConn’s Puppet Arts Program, one of only a few in the country, will also be celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2025. Come visit and explore the puppetry scene through the mesmerizing lens of Richard Termine. The exhibition will be on display at the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry, located at 1 Royce Circle, Storrs, CT 06268. The museum is open from 11am – 5pm on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, and from 11am – 7pm on Thursdays and Saturdays.

[Caption: Heather Henson, Brenna Ross, and Anatar Marmol-Gagné will discuss Puppet Slams: Short-Form Puppetry for the 21st Century in a UConn Puppet Forum Wednesday, September 18 at 7 p.m. at the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry.]

As part of its 2024 Fall Puppet Forum Series and in conjunction with the 2024 UConn Fall Puppet Slam on Sept. 20, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry is pleased to host Puppet Slams: Short-Form Puppetry for the 21st Century, a discussion with Puppet Slam Network (PSN) founder Heather Henson; Brenna Ross, the Producer & General Manager for Green Feather Foundation, which oversees the PSN; and Anatar Marmol-Gagné, director of the Pinned and Sewtered Puppet Slam in New Haven, Connecticut; on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024 at 7 p.m. at the Ballard Institute Theater, located at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs. This forum, moderated by Ballard Institute director (and puppet slam performer) John Bell, will also be broadcast via Ballard Institute Facebook Live (facebook.com/BallardInstitute).

This forum will explore puppet slams, which are live performances of curated, short-form puppetry acts for adult audiences that emerged from avant-garde puppet performance practices in the 1980s, with older roots in vaudeville and other popular practices. The Puppet Slam Network, founded by Heather Henson and IBEX Puppetry in 2005, encourages the growth and diversity of the puppet slam scene, and currently supports over 50 slams in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

Heather Henson is a producer, puppet artist, and founder of the Green Feather Foundation (formerly IBEX Puppetry), an organization that promotes healing for the planet through immersive experiences. In 2005 Henson began the Puppet Slam Network to support the burgeoning underground community of adult short-form puppetry presenters, and through the Network has continued to fund and support Puppet Slams across North America. Henson also produces her own theatrical works, including Ajijaak on Turtle Island and Panther and Crane, and supports the work of other independent artists through the Handmade Puppet Dreams film series.

Brooklyn-based Brenna Ross is the Producer and General Manager of Green Feather Foundation and has overseen the Puppet Slam Network since 2017. She recently represented PSN in the Czech Republic as part of the International Puppet Slam partnership; produced the online National Puppetry Slamdemic in 2020; and is producing the upcoming International Puppet Slam in NYC in October 2023. A Midwestern ex-pat, Brenna holds degrees in physics and theater from Grinnell College and a certificate in Arts & Culture Strategy from University of Pennsylvania.

Originally from Caracas, Venezuela, Anatar Marmol-Gagné earned an MFA degree from the University of Connecticut’s renowned Puppet Arts Program, and a BA in English/Creative Writing from Hunter College. Anatar trained at the National Puppetry Conference at the O’Neill Theater Center, has taught children’s puppet workshops and performed in puppet slams and festivals at venues such as Dixon Place in NYC; and founded and curates the Pinned & Sewtured Puppet Slam in New Haven.

Admission to this event is free (donations greatly appreciated!), and refreshments will be served. For more information or if you require accommodation to attend a forum, please contact Ballard Institute staff at 860.486.8580 or bimp@uconn.edu.

The Ballard Institute and the UConn Puppet Arts Program will present the 2024 UConn Fall Puppet Slam on Friday, September 20, 2024 at 8 p.m. in UConn’s Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre, on the lower level of the Jorgensen Performing Arts Center at 2132 Hillside Road, Storrs, Conn. 06269. The UConn Fall Puppet Slam will feature new and experimental short works by professional puppeteers and performers from around the Northeast, including UConn Puppet Arts alumnus Esme Roszel and Boston-area puppeteer Harry LaCoste, as well as new works by UConn Puppet Arts students. Mansfield’s Waldron’s Studios 88 will return once more as the Puppet Slam house band.

Harry LaCoste will perform slam pieces: Bean Brain, about a boy acting out his mental health struggles; and Cheers!, a found-object show about the uncle that Harry never got to meet. UConn Puppet Arts alumni Esme Roszel and Ray Dondero will perform their new production Bingo Street. The UConn Fall Puppet Slam also features new works by graduate and undergraduate students from the UConn Puppet Arts Program. Funding for the slam is made possible, in part, by the Puppet Slam Network.

The UConn Fall 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 Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre, located at 2132 Hillside Road, Storrs, Conn. 06269, on the lower level. (use rear entrance). For directions to the Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre, visit crt.uconn.edu. For more information about these performances or if you require accommodation to attend this event, please contact Ballard Institute staff at 860-486-8580 or bimp@uconn.edu.

As part of its 2024 Spring Puppet Forum Series, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry is pleased to host Taking Care: Puppets and Their Collectors, a discussion with UConn Dramatic Arts Professor Dr. Jungmin Song, on Wednesday, March 27, 2024 at 7 p.m. at the Ballard Institute Theater, located at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs. This forum will also be broadcast via Ballard Institute Facebook Live (facebook.com/BallardInstitute). 

In conjunction with the Ballard Institute’s new exhibit, Dr. Jungmin Song and Dr. John Bell will discuss the various puppet collectors whose donations have built the Ballard Institute’s puppet collections, from 1930s marionettes to Sicilian pupi, overhead projector innovations, and Frank Ballard musicals. This event is co-sponsored by the UConn Humanities Institute. 

Dr. Jungmin Song is Assistant Professor in Residence at the Department of Dramatic Arts, Research Associate at the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry, and a performance artist. Korean-born, she studied Costume and Textile at Seoul National University and Theatre Design at Central Saint Martins, University Arts London before completing a Ph.D. in performance at the University of Roehampton, London. Her research interests include contemporary theater, performance art, and puppetry. She curated the exhibitions Shakespeare and Puppetry (2020) and Puppetry’s Racial Reckoning (2021) at the Ballard Institute. She has published in Performance Research, Theatre Journal, Contemporary Theatre Review, and Asian Theatre Journal and was the editor of a special issue of Puppet Notebook on Shakespeare and puppetry.

Admission to this event is free (donations greatly appreciated!), and refreshments will be served. For more information or if you require 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 and the UConn Puppet Arts Program will present the 2024 UConn Spring Puppet Slam on Friday, March 22, 2024 at 8 p.m. in UConn’s von der Mehden Recital Hall, located at 875 Coventry Rd, Storrs, Connecticut 06269. The UConn Spring Puppet Slam will feature new and experimental short works by professional puppeteers and performers from around the Northeast, including UConn Puppet Arts alumna Stoph Scheer and the Stringpullers Puppet Company from Ithaca, New York, as well as new works by UConn Puppet Arts students; music by Derek Waldron, Teresa Bielecki and other musicians from Waldron’s Studios 88; and the coveted BIMPY Awards.

UConn Puppet Arts alumna Stoph Scheer will present Sharing Update, a comedic hand-and-rod puppet monologue in which an aging Long Island father processes his child’s trans identity through his limited vocabulary. The Ithaca, New York based Stringpullers Puppet Company (Linda Wingerter and Evgeni Nudelman) will perform a sock-puppet romantic comedy, Galaxy Laundromat. The UConn Spring Puppet Slam will also feature new works by graduate and undergraduate students from the UConn Puppet Arts Program, as well as the coveted annual BIMPY awards for puppetry excellence. Funding for the UConn Spring Puppet Slam is made possible, in part, by the Puppet Slam Network. These performances are recommended for mature audiences.

The UConn Spring 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. For more information about these performances or if you require accommodation to attend this event, please contact Ballard Institute staff at 860-486-8580 or bimp@uconn.edu.