Educational Puppetry Co.

Relationship between adult and chilren puppetry example

This is a piece that I found shared the simple example of how puppetry can both cater to the entertainment of children and adults.  The concept behind the content of this piece feels more directed towards the adult audience.  It shows the frustrations that married couples have in everyday life.  The children can also appreciate this piece because the characters are very theatrical and cartoon-like.

Blog Question #3

In reading Chapter 4, I found that I was most intrigued by the Chinese shadow puppets.  Although, I did find Margo and Rufus Rose's marionette puppets of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers to be very interesting since I am a dancer; I felt that there wasn't enough valuable information to expand on their puppet characters.  The Chinese shadow play really caught my eye because of the interesting and unique fact that shadows are being used in the puppetry.  I really was drawn to the beautiful bright colors and intricate design and craftsmanship of these puppets. 

Often times, these shows utilize loud music as accompaniment.  I think this is neat element that I really like to see added to puppet theater rather than script/text.  I think I relate to the music aspect of puppetry so closely because it feels like a choreographed dance.  The particular shadow play that chapter 4 depicted and talked about was The Chaos Box.  It utilizes animals as the characters; lizards, centipedes, and a handful of other supernatural, mythical characters.

Blog Question #2

In the documentary "Puppetry: Worlds of Imagination," three puppeteers they really focused on were Basil Twist, Ralph Lee, and Michael Curry.  Each puppeteer had a distinct trademark that set them aside from one another.

Basil Twist was a very unique puppet master that used the ever so intriguing under-water puppets.  He took a really abstract approach to this method, and made his puppets far from naturalistic.  Different kinds of fabric, and textures were used to create the unique look Twist was striving for.  He studied in France at a school for puppetry, yet gained much of his inspiration from a 20th century Spanish artist.

The next artist featured in the documentary was Ralph Lee.  Lee really gained inspiration from mythical creatures, mythology, symbolism, etc.  He also used a new approach in his puppet design in which he called body puppets.  For example, the documentary showed a woman standing on top of two giant wheels for a realistic yet imaginative illusion.

Michael Curry is a world famous puppeteer.  He utilizes many of today's technologies in his work to put on elaborate shows.  Curry gains inspiration and ideas through illusion, mythology, and technical assistance.   He really enjoys using human movers within his puppets to make them come to life.  He is fascinated with gymnasts, dancers, and athletes.

What is a way that puppetry can represent the turmoil going on in Egypt?

Puppet Master Extraordinair New Orleans St. Performer Part 1

Potter Puppet Pals: The Mysterious Ticking Noise

Blog #1

Ever since I was a little girl, I grew up watching Sesame Street.   Elmo was my favorite character! I was so jealous when my little brother received a Tickle-me-Elmo for his birthday, even though I was a little older and was "too cool" for sesame street, I was secretly jealous.  I remember watching it every morning when I woke up and ate breakfast before school.  It never occurred to me that they were not "real." It was really hard to wrap my mind around the concept of them being puppets when I was so young, because I wanted to believe that they were alive!

The film that we viewed in class was very interesting.  To me, I was most intrigued by the amount of time and craftsmanship put into each puppet.  The artistic eye that the puppeteers have is very impressive.  It was really neat to see the process in which they were individually created.  I was most impressed with the ornate detail in each puppet. I can't imagine working with that small of an object and putting so much intricate detail into each one. It was really neat to watch how the children in the film were so enthralled with each puppet.  They treated them so real, which really brought back memories of my childhood, when I used to imagine that the puppets I watched in shows like Sesame Street and/or the Muppet's, etc.  It was so cute to see how their little faces lit up when the puppets interacted with them.

My favorite Broadway musical is Chicago.  I had the amazing privilege to see the musical in St. Paul at the Ordway.  It was also my favorite movie.  Although it is a very short scene, there is an amazing scene when the star of the show, Roxy is used as a puppet.  I remember the first time I watched this, I had to rewind that section of the movie about five times.  I did not realize that she was real, they did such a great job of making her look/act like a puppet that I then thought that this puppet seems so real, she looks like she is alive, and she was!  They really did this scene in a very clever way and I still think of it whenever anyone talks about puppets.