Puppeteer
A puppeteer is a person who manipulates an inanimate object called a puppet to create the illusion that the puppet is alive. The puppet is often shaped like a human, animal, or legendary creature. The puppeteer may be visible to or hidden from the audience. Description Performing as a puppeteer can be physically demanding. A puppeteer can operate a puppet indirectly by the use of strings, rods, wires, electronics or directly by their own hands placed inside the puppet or holding it externally or any other part of the body- such as the legs. Some puppet styles require two or more puppeteers to work together to create a single puppet character. The puppeteer's role is to manipulate the physical object in such a manner that the audience believes the object is imbued with life. In some instances, the persona of the puppeteer is also an important feature, as with ventriloquist's dummy performers, in which the puppeteer and the human figure-styled puppet appear onstage together, and in ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mollie Falkenstein
Mollie Peck Falkenstein (1906-1992) was a dancer who became a puppeteer known for her work with finger puppets. Biography In 1906, Mollie Peck was born in England and moved to Canada when she was six years old where she began training in ballet. In 1922 she moved to Los Angeles and became a professional dancer performing in “Rio Rita (1929 film), Rio Rita” in 1927, before landing a job as a ballerina for Rio Rita (musical), Rio Rita on Broadway. Falkenstein got involved with puppets when her daughter, Jan, was in elementary school and she made a set of puppets and a story to accompany the puppets. This grew over time as the group of children performed in puppet shows with Falkenstein performing as the Chiquita Puppeteers. Falkenstein also performed a one-woman show with finger puppet ballerinas that would eventually become known as the “dancing ballet.” The ballet puppet dancers had molded legs attached to Falkenstein’s fingers and a head and arms controlled by strin ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Puppeteers
A puppeteer is a person who manipulates an inanimate object called a puppet to create the illusion that the puppet is alive. The puppet is often shaped like a human, animal, or legendary creature. The puppeteer may be visible to or hidden from the audience. Description Performing as a puppeteer can be physically demanding. A puppeteer can operate a puppet indirectly by the use of strings, rods, wires, electronics or directly by their own hands placed inside the puppet or holding it externally or any other part of the body- such as the legs. Some puppet styles require two or more puppeteers to work together to create a single puppet character. The puppeteer's role is to manipulate the physical object in such a manner that the audience believes the object is imbued with life. In some instances, the persona of the puppeteer is also an important feature, as with ventriloquist's dummy performers, in which the puppeteer and the human figure-styled puppet appear onstage together, and in ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jim Henson
James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, animator, actor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notability as the creator of the Muppets. Henson was also well known for creating ''Fraggle Rock'' (1983–1987) and as the director of ''The Dark Crystal'' (1982) and ''Labyrinth (1986 film), Labyrinth'' (1986). Born in Greenville, Mississippi, and raised in both Leland, Mississippi, and University Park, Maryland, Henson began developing puppets in high school. He created ''Sam and Friends'' (1955–1961), a short-form comedy television program on WRC-TV, while he was a freshman at the University of Maryland, College Park, in collaboration with fellow student Jane Henson, Jane Nebel. Henson and Nebel co-founded The Jim Henson Company, Muppets, Inc. – now The Jim Henson Company – in 1958, and married less than a year later in 1959. Henson graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in home economics. In 1969, Henson join ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Puppetry
Puppetry is a form of theatre or performance that involves the manipulation of puppets – wikt:inanimate, inanimate objects, often resembling some type of human or animal figure, that are animated or manipulated by a human called a puppeteer. Such a performance is also known as a puppet production. The script for a puppet production is called a puppet play. Puppeteers use movements from hands and arms to control devices such as rods or strings to move the body, head, limbs, and in some cases the mouth and eyes of the puppet. The puppeteer sometimes speaks in the voice of the character of the puppet, while at other times they perform to a recorded soundtrack. There are many different varieties of puppets, and they are made of a wide range of materials, depending on their form and intended use. They can be extremely complex or very simple in their construction. The simplest puppets are finger puppets, which are tiny puppets that fit onto a single finger, and sock puppets, which ar ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Adult Puppeteering
Adult puppeteering is the use of puppets in contexts aimed at adult audiences. Serious theatrical pieces can use puppets, either for aesthetic reasons, or to achieve special effects that would otherwise be impossible with human actors. In parts of the world where puppet shows have traditionally been children's entertainment, many find the notion of puppets in decidedly adult situations—for example, involving drugs, sex, profanity, or violence—to be humorous, because of the bizarre contrast it creates between subject matter and characters. Adult puppeteering appears in many forms. In the US and UK it is more easily found on screen. Television satire such as the UK's ''Spitting Image'' provides a strong link to the earlier traditions of Punch and Judy or Commedia dell'Arte as sources of social and political commentary. Puppetry sitcoms such as the US series ''Dinosaurs (TV series), Dinosaurs'' feature puppet characters who are entertaining in themselves, not as satirical figur ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Marica Mikulová
Mária Mikulová (15 May 1951 – 18 January 2024, professionally known as Marica Mikulová) was a Slovak puppeteer and theatre director. Biography Marica Mikulová was born on 15 May 1951 in Bratislava. In 1976, Mikulová graduated from the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. She joined the Gong ensemble in Bratislava as an artistic director, director and dramaturge A dramaturge or dramaturg (from Ancient Greek δραματουργός – dramatourgós) is a literary adviser or editor in a theatre, opera, or film company who researches, selects, adapts, edits, and interprets scripts, libretti, texts, and pr .... Mikulová was a pioneer of "drama education" in Slovak puppet theatre in the 1970s and 1980s. In 1990, she became the first head of the puppetry department at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava which she led for thirteen years. Mikulová continued to work as a teacher at the department for many years. Mikulová died in January 2024. References ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kenya Institute Of Puppet Theatre (KIPT)
Kenya Institute of Puppet Theatre also known as KIPT is a Kenyan non-governmental and non-profit technical advisory and management community based theatre institute, which was founded in 2007. KIPT uses puppetry, participatory educational theatre and folk media in life skills promotion, community education and cultural communication that, according to KIPT, engages people into interactive discourse. History KIPT was founded by a team of puppet and theatre practitioners for the purpose of harnessing puppetry and folk media theatre experiences and using them for socioeconomic and environmental change. The organization seeks to contribute to the improvement of the livelihoods of the youth and the larger community through the promotion of greater personal and community involvement, accountability, awareness, growth and development, mainly in Kenya and Africa. KIPT has hosted several festivals, which have taken place in Nairobi. KIPT was initially called CHAPS (Community Health Awar ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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World Puppetry Day
World Puppetry Day is March 21. The idea came from the puppet theater artist Javad Zolfaghari from Iran. In 2000 at the XVIII Congress of the Union Internationale de la Marionnette, (UNIMA) in Magdeburg, he made the proposal for discussion. Two years later, at a meeting of the International Council of UNIMA in June 2002 in Atlanta, the date of the celebration was identified. The first celebration was in 2003. Each year the day comes with a theme. In 2022, the theme was "The Sea" encouraging puppeteers to celebrate the day using some form of that theme. World Puppetry Day is celebrated by puppet festivals, donating to puppet organizations, making puppets, or watching a puppet show. Some communities will put on puppet shows in honor of the day reminding people of this versatile and dying art form. Puppets have been around for almost 4000 years in almost every civilization. Today puppets come in all shapes and sizes and are used to tell different stories. See also * UNIMA * Pupp ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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UNIMA
UNIMA (''Union Internationale de la Marionnette'' – International Puppetry Association) is an international non-governmental organization that brings together puppeteers and puppet enthusiasts to develop and promote the art of puppetry. It was founded in Prague in 1929 (the then Czechoslovak magazine Loutkář was UNIMA's first official journal in years 1929–1930). In 1981, the French puppeteer Jacques Félix moved UNIMA's headquarters to Charleville-Mézières, France, location of the ''Festival Mondial des Théâtres de Marionnettes'' since 1972. UNIMA is affiliated to UNESCO and it is a member of the International Theatre Institute. UNIMA is affiliated with the International Theatre Institute and is present in 87 countries. Its headquarters is located in Charleville-Mézières. History UNIMA was founded on May 20, 1929, in Prague, during the 5th Congress of Czech Puppeteers, upon the proposal of French writer Paul Jeanne. The Czech magazine ''Loutkář'' served as its o ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Puppet
A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or Legendary creature, mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. Puppetry is an ancient form of theatre which dates back to the 5th century BC in ancient Greece. There are many different varieties of puppets, and they are made from a wide range of materials, depending on their form and intended use. They range from very simple in construction and operation to very complex. The puppeteer buses movements of their hands, arms, or control devices such as rods or strings to move the body, head, limbs, and in some cases the mouth and eyes of the puppet. The puppeteer often speaks in the voice of the character of the puppet, and then synchronizes the movements of the puppet's mouth with this spoken part. The actions, gestures and spoken parts acted out by the puppeteer with the puppet are typically used in storytelling. Two simple types of puppets are the finger puppet, which is a tiny puppet ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Shadow Play
Shadow play, also known as shadow puppetry, is an ancient form of storytelling and entertainment which uses flat articulated cut-out figures (shadow puppets) which are held between a source of light and a translucent screen or scrim (material), scrim. The cut-out shapes of the puppets sometimes include translucent color or other types of detailing. Various effects can be achieved by moving both the puppets and the light source. A skilled puppeteer can make the figures appear to walk, dance, fight, nod and laugh. There are four different types of performances in shadow play: the actors using their bodies as shadows, puppets where the actors hold them as shadows in the daytime, spatial viewing, and viewing the shadows from both sides of the screen. Shadow play is popular in various cultures, among both children and adults in many countries around the world. More than 20 countries are known to have shadow show troupes. Shadow play is an old tradition and is listed as a Syria, Syr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dhalang
The dhalang or dalang (; ) is the puppeteer in an Indonesian performance. In a performance of , the dalang sits behind a screen () made of white cotton stretched on a wooden frame. Above his head, hanging from beams attached to the top of the screen is the lamp (), which projects the shadows onto the screen. In front of the dhalang is a stage (), traditionally made from the trunk of a banana tree, into which the sharpened control rods of the puppets can be pushed to keep them in position during the performance. To his left is the puppet chest (), and to his right is the puppet chest's lid, on which the puppets sit ready for use. In addition to moving the puppets and speaking their lines, the dalang is also responsible for giving cues to the gamelan. This is done principally by playing the kepyak, a metal plate or set of plates played with his foot, or by rapping on the puppet chest () with a wooden mallet held in the left hand. The art of puppetry () was traditionally hande ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |