'Puppet Slams: Short-Form Puppetry for the 21st Century' Comes to the Ballard Institute

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 will 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 Sewtured 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.

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