- Calliope Puppets

Fun and thoughtful, for “Back to School”:

WALLS & BRIDGES: Tales of Conflict Resolution

Stop and Think! Talk It Out! Get Help When You Need It! Every Individual Can Make a Difference! Four fun folk tales involve audience members in thoughtful reflection and active participation towards understanding of these crucial steps in peaceful conflict resolution. This lively and thought provoking program features timeless folk tales from Russia, the Marshall Islands, the United States, and China, performed with hand, shadow, and tabletop puppets. This memorable show has toured in Pakistan, Costa Rica, and the U.S.

Friday, September 24th, 6:30p.m.

I was excited to learn Power Point (it was easy!) to present at the Professional Day for Teaching Artists and Therapists at the Puppeteers of America Southeast Regional Festival in Wilmington, NC recently. I talked about the  ten week residency I taught for 12 1st and 2nd grade classes in New Orleans last school year (funded by Young Audiences) was a social studies curriculum, in which the students built a puppet community from the land up, learning about land forms, map skills, community components, goods and services, elections, and even creating new cultural traditions.

Read press about the project here!

As one hour of theater education per week is mandated for students statewide, Calliope Puppets’ DVD/manual is designed for Promethian Board use for a strong curriculum connection, and engaged learning!

A collaborative project is in the works for a Peace is Power giant puppet parade September 18th to celebrate the International Day of Peace. Check the calendar to get involved! Learn to build giant puppets! Be part of a group working to make our city a better place for all! Event organizer is Ahmané Glover, with the American Friends Service Committee, working in collaboration with several community groups, including the Leona Tate Foundation for Change, The Green Project, and Calliope Puppets.

Four teenage docents did some fabulous work to use puppets to educate children on gallery tours at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art. Karen Konnerth built two portable stages, and the docents composed stories inspired by specific works of art in the museum. They came to Calliope Puppet Center to build puppets, then rehearsed, and have now used the puppets in the museum for enthusiastic audiences. Above, Lionnel paints one of the puppets for his original story.

Darrell and Simone rehearse their original story.

“Ribbit, ribbit, Rain, Rain Rain!” One of the final Summer Reading Program shows was at home the in Orleans Parish libraries. Now Big Frog gets a rest, while some new puppets begin to  come to life!

Grupo Saltimbanqui, from Mexico City, performed for Puppets & Pajamas in April, presenting lively, traditional tales from their country. They performed at several schools and other venues in New Orleans, including the Kids Tent of Jazz Fest. Their show was very well received, except elicited a couple comments on their scene when two characters (obviously very simple head and costuming on two bare hands), remove their clothes to go to sleep in a little puppet bed. A couple adults found this offensive. The puppeteers were amazed, as they had never had any problem with this scene, which highlights the cultural differences in perception – and also, why it is so important to offer experiences in cultural sharing, as well as the power of puppets to engage imagination – these were actually simple bare hands!

Finally some sadly overdue time to catch up on the website, and the puppets and I are off around the state in celebration of reading. Most of the parishes are going with the “Make a Splash: Read” theme, so I’m traveling with frogs – big and small, hand and rod puppets, one from way back before I even used a glue gun (pictured), in a multicultural assortment of tales.

Fabulous Frog Tales

Calliope Puppets feature this animated amphibian in fun fairytale and fable in a 45 minute presentation including lots of audience participation. The Frog Prince (the classic Brothers Grimm tale) demonstrates the power of a goodnight kiss, then in The Frog and the King (from India), a foolish king wants to quiet a noisy frog, and in Frog Brings Rain (roots in Native American tales, as well as Japan) the frogs learn the power of working together. Hand puppets both large and small, as well as large masks worn by selected audience members, bring to life the amphibious star in a “ribbiting”, frog-tastic frolic for all ages!

Calliope Puppet Center is available for fabulous, fun, family festivities! Have a magical, memorable birthday celebration, for ages 3 and up!