Ballard Institute To Host Mexican Puppetry Forum Featuring Lormiga Títeres

The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut will present a Spring Puppet Forum event featuring the Mexican puppet company Lormiga Títeres. The forum will take place at the Ballard Institute Theater and will also be streamed online. The event coincides with the exhibition Somos Uno: Mexican and Mexican American Puppetry.

As part of its 2026 Spring Puppet Forum Series, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut will present Mexican Puppetry: Lormiga Títeres on Wednesday, February 18 at 7:00 p.m. The event will take place in the Ballard Institute Theater, located at 1 Royce Circle in Storrs, Connecticut, and will also be broadcast via Ballard Institute Facebook Live.

The forum will feature Ailin Ruiz and Sarina Pedroza, directors and dramaturgs of the nonprofit puppet company Lormiga Títeres. The discussion will be moderated by Ballard Institute director John Bell and is presented in conjunction with the Institute’s current exhibition, Somos Uno: Mexican and Mexican American Puppetry. The event is co-sponsored by UConn’s Puerto Rican and Latin American Cultural Center and El Instituto, the Institute of Latina/o, Caribbean, and Latin American Studies.

Founded and led by Ruiz and Pedroza, Lormiga Títeres focuses on supporting childhood development through puppetry and storytelling. The company produces and performs puppet shows and films, publishes materials through its Editorial L press, and engages in community programming that includes Theatre at School, Theatre Saturdays, historical research into Sonora’s puppetry traditions, and online projects such as Cuentos para Contar Estrellas. The company also curates Puppet Slam México and has presented work at festivals throughout Mexico and internationally.

Lormiga Títeres’ work is represented in Somos Uno through image frames from their stop-motion animation films La Casa de mi Abuela (My Grandmother’s House), Como una Niña (Like a Child), and Olivia y el Don Extraordinario (Olivia and the Extraordinary Gift).