Claudia Orenstein

The Ballard Institute Presents TOPICS IN JAPANESE PUPPETRY Online Forum

As its final 2022 Fall Puppet Forum Series, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut will host Topics in Japanese Puppetry moderated by Dr. Claudia Orenstein, with panelists Dr. Mari Boyd, Dr. Yoko Yamaguchi, and filmmaker Zach Dorn, on Tues., Dec. 6 at 7 p.m. ET.

The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry Presents PUPPET AND SPIRIT

The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut will host “Puppet and Spirit: Living Gods, Demonic Snakes, Robotic Buddhas, and Migrant Relics” with puppetry studies scholars Claudia Orenstein, Tim Cusack, Ana Martinez, and Deepsikha Chatterjee on March 25 at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry Presents 'Critical and Historical Investigations into Women and Puppetry'

For its second installment of the 2019 Fall Puppet Forum Series, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut will host Critical and Historical Investigations into Women and Puppetry with Claudia Orenstein, Alissa Mello, and Theodora Skipitares, moderated by UConn Puppet Arts student Felicia Cooper. Join us on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019 at 7 p.m. at the Ballard Institute Theater, located at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs.

The Ballard Institute And Museum Of Puppetry Presents BUILDING PUPPETEERS Forum

UConn Puppet Arts Director Bart. P. Roccoberton, Jr. will discuss the past, present, and future of the UConn Puppet Arts Program in a forum on Sept. 19, 2019 at 7 p.m. Photos courtesy of Bart. P. Roccoberton, Jr.] For its first installment of the 2019 Fall Puppet Forum Series, and in conjunction with the exhibit It's Always Pandemonium: The Puppets of Bart Roccoberton, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut will host Building Puppeteers: How We Got Here and Where Are We Going with UConn Puppet Arts Program Director Bart. P. Roccoberton, Jr. on Thursday, Sept. 19 at 7 p.m. at the Ballard Institute Theater, located at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs.

The Ballard Institute And Museum Of Puppetry Presents Its 2019 Fall Puppet Forum Series

For its 2019 Fall Puppet Forum Series, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut will host four free scintillating discussions with puppeteers, scholars, and artists on Thursday evenings at 7 p.m. in September through December in the Ballard Institute Theater, located at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs. These forums will illuminate new perspectives on the creation, history, aesthetics, and performance of puppetry today. 

STUPID FING BIRD, a Sideshow Theatre Company production running through August 30th at Victory Gardens Theater, will hold a panel discussion tonight, August 21st immediately following the 7:30 p.m. show. The panel will feature theatre historian and dramaturg Dassia N. Posner (of no relation to playwright Aaron Posner) as she discusses her take on this 'sort-of-adaptation' of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull.

STUPID FING BIRD, a Sideshow Theatre Company production running through August 30th at Victory Gardens Theater, will hold a panel discussion on Friday, August 21st immediately following the 7:30 p.m. show. The panel will feature theatre historian and dramaturg Dassia N. Posner (of no relation to playwright Aaron Posner) as she discusses her take on this "sort-of-adaptation" of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull.

The Segal Center is pleased to celebrate the publication of The Routledge Companion to Puppetry and Material Performance (Routledge, 2014), edited by Dassia N. Posner, Claudia Orenstein, and John Bell, with a full day of curated screenings followed by excerpted performances and a panel discussion featuring John Bell (Director of the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut) and Claudia Orenstein (Associate Professor at Hunter College and The Graduate Center, CUNY). The event takes place on Monday, December 1, with screenings from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. followed by a 6:30 p.m. performance and conversation.

'The Frog Singer,' conceived and written by Laura Strausfeld, is probably the first theatrical puppetry work with self-illuminating puppets made from electroluminescent wire. It is the story of a frog who is a champion jumper but aspires to be a singer instead. The production has a cast of three actor/puppeteers and live drawing projections. It is intended for children of all ages.