Puppetry class in Sonoma? Talk to the hand
It doesn’t take much other than imagination to build a puppet. Jim Henson made his first puppet out of his mother’s old coat, relates Lee Armstrong, an award-winning puppeteer based in Sonoma.
“Puppetry is one of the most accessible and fun art forms,” says Armstrong, co-owner of the ImagesMedia.com. “It’s not difficult to get started and brings a smile to many faces.”
The Emmy™ winner will teach the workshop series “Explore Puppet Performance” at the Sonoma Community Center July 18-22.
“These sessions answer the question ‘What do you do once you have a puppet on your hand?’ then takes participants through bringing a puppet to life for small group performance, stage and TV,” she said.
Eric Jackson, head of the SCC’s Live Exploratory Arts program organized the week into half-day sessions, which includes puppet construction, stage puppetry & TV puppetry. “We’re excited to introduce classes on a sliding scale to make them very accessible,” he said.
Armstrong has taught puppet workshops across the country, to teachers, librarians, even firefighters who use puppetry to share safety messages. Her TV credits started with 10 years on Canadian TV, then three years with Jim Henson’s original “Fraggle Rock” followed by over 20 years puppeteering on IIM projects, numerous PBS shows and commercials.
Puppets are a great tool for delivering a memorable message,” she says. “These workshops will be fun and useful for teens and adults interested in the arts, but also teachers, librarians, youth group leaders and parents.”
The first signup went to Darlene Martino, a teacher from the New York area. Darlene received a grant to study puppetry, contacted Lee and the program has developed around her request.
Martino said she’s looking to learn how “to use puppets to help counteract the Covid isolation and adversity my students have experienced.” She feels that through puppetry, her students can learn to build tackle difficult conversations, express opinions and resolve conflicts.
“I am optimistic that I have found a solution in puppetry,” Martino said.
A Bay Area company with world-wide sales, Folkmanis Puppets, is providing puppets for the performance workshops. You can also make your own, if desired, in the first session.
