Open Call to Young Writers- Send Your Puppet Theater Scripts to UNIMA

Deadline: April 15, 2018

2019 marks the 90th Anniversary of the creation of UNIMA. To honour this date, UNIMA is holding an open competition for young writers aged 18-35 interested in authoring a script or concept for puppet theater. The script will be performed as part of the UNIMA 90th Anniversary celebrations.

Photo courtesy of https://writix.co.uk/blog/narrative-papers

UNIMA is in search of a special script/concept for the puppet theater. This creation will be workshopped into four distinct productions that will be performed in four separate geographical regions of the world: Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, and the Americas.

Authors are asked to use as theme, subject matter, point of departure, or inspiration for their work the values that UNIMA has sought to uphold throughout its almost 90-year-long history: namely, international friendship and a spirit of openness and cooperation across borders, social, cultural and religious affiliations or partisan beliefs.

The foundation of UNIMA in 1929 took place a decade after the devastations of World War I in a spirit of reconstruction between a Frenchman, Paul Jeanne, and a Czech, Jindřich Veselý. Twenty-eight years later, in 1957, and again in Prague, the first post-World War II UNIMA Congress elected its Presidium (now known as the UNIMA Executive Committee). The German-born Max Jacob was appointed UNIMA’s president and his two vice presidents were the Soviet, Sergei Obraztsov (a former combatant in the war) and the Italian, Vittorio Podrecca (an anti-fascist). The Frenchman, Jean-Loup Temporal, who also fought in the war, would also become a member of the executive branch of UNIMA along with other committed international members of the organization.

These foundational moments in UNIMA’s history are open to your individual interpretation. The stories and themes they evoke can be adapted to any period and to any historical or fictional characters. Keep in mind as you conceive your play/concept that we also wish to promote both UNIMA’s core values as well as the puppetry arts.

The selected author will receive an award of 2,000 euros.

The awardee will also have the opportunity to have his/her script or concept performed, as described above, forming the basis for four productions that will be presented in an international network.

More information can be found here. 

Call for Entry: International Puppets Festival in Lugano, Switzerland

Interested in performing in Switzerland? The International Puppets Festival in Lugano is from October 13th - November 4th, 2018. 

The festival organizers are looking for children or family shows with little to no dialogue, or with Italian dialogue. Send your applications in to festival@palco.ch by April 30th!

Click here to learn more about the festival. 

The Jim Henson Foundation Collection of Puppet Theater at the New York Public Library, Theatre on Film and Tape Archive

"The Jim Henson Foundation Collection of Puppet Theater is located at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Theater on Film and Tape Archive.  The collection has over 70 performances from the 1992, 1994, 1996 & 1998 International Festival of Puppet Theater."

You can see what this exciting collection holds on The Jim Henson Foundation website, as well as a step-by-step guide on how to view the collection. 

Call for Proposals: Micro-Festival of Unfinished Puppetry

Deadline for proposal: April 1st, 2018. Click here to learn more about the festival!

The 11th edition of the Micro-Festival of Unfinished Puppetry, organised by Les Sages Fous,
will be held from 20th to 27th of October 2018.

If you have an unfinished puppet project that needs to confront an audience, we would be delighted to know more.

Types of projects that can participate:
 
- An unfinished theatrical form, lasting 2 to 30 minutes, using puppet or object theatre

- An exhibition or installation project which revolves around the object or the puppet

-  A short film still in development using puppet, object, or stop-motion.

- Unusual proposals are also welcome!

Please send your projects to this address:
contact us by email: info@sagesfous.com
or by mail to:  LES SAGES FOUS, 
80, Saint-François-Xavier, Trois-Rivières, QC, G9A 0A6

 

Nottingham Puppet Festival, March 22-25 2018,

A first for Nottingham, the Puppet Festival is a celebration of the artistry of puppets and puppetry along with the communities that inspire the stories they tell. The Festival has been put together through a partnership between Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall Nottingham, City Arts and Nottingham Trent University and made possible thanks to funding from Arts Council England and additional support from Nottingham City Council, Nottingham UNESCO City of Literature and Midlands3Cities.

Local, national and international artists, both upcoming and old-hands, will be bringing their talents and demonstrating their skills at locations across the city including the National Videogames Arcade, Nottingham Lakeside Arts, Broadway Cinema, Dance4 and the Malt Cross Caves as well as the partner venues.

The mix of shows includes the multi award-winning National Theatre production of War Horse, late-night puppet cabaret, political satire, as well as the retelling of classic stories, and family fun which includes imagined trips into space, a talking mushroom and a menagerie of cardboard animals. The performances will run together with talks and workshops for both aspiring puppeteers and professional practitioners. Jamie Anderson, son of Thunderbirds creator Gerry Anderson and Spitting Image’s Pete Sinclair, Philip Pope and Steve Nallon - the voice of Mrs Thatcher - will be amongst those talking about the artform of puppetry and the many different roles it has to play.

As well as bookable events, there will be lots of free events including Pinocchio Puppet-Making workshops, drop-in talks and a host of sights, sounds and fun at the Pop-Up Puppet Village which will make its home in the Old Market Square from the Friday to Sunday of the Festival, and the closing spectacle of the puppet parade.

The full programme, Festival information and booking for tickets can be found here, where there is also a sign-up to the e-newsletter

Apply for the 2019 Festival Mondial des Théâtres de Marionnettes!

The 2019 registration form is now open. Click here to learn more! 

Call for participation at the 58th International Children's Festival in Šibenik, Croatia

Want to perform at the 58th ICF in Croatia? Click here to learn more about this international festival and the application process! The festival lasts from June 16th- 30th, 2018. Applications are due February 1st, 2018. 

“The first festival was held in 1958, the result of the initiative and efforts of several children arts enthusiast. During the years Festival has turned into a big complex multidisciplinary multimedial cultural event, which not only displays but invites participation actively. It is a review of the best works for children as well as of the best works by children.
The basic cultural and pedagogical justification of the festival is that it promotes aesthetical education of children and young adults, and develops all artistic forms of children creativity. The festival not only initiates but also stimulates many ideas in art forms for children and by children: dramatic and music arts, puppetry, film, literature and visual art. The festival has the full support of UNICEF and UNESCO and continuing patronage of the Croatian President.”

— Ivana Badzim, Festival Manager

Sesame Workshop & International Rescue Committee Awarded $100 Million for Early Childhood Education of Syrian Refugees

Exciting news! Sesame Workshop has partnered with the International Rescue Committee to receive the first-ever 100&Change grant from the MacArthur Foundation. Their project will implement evidence-based, early childhood development intervention designed to address the “toxic stress” experienced by children in the Syrian response region—Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, and Syria. The project will improve children’s learning outcomes today and their intellectual and emotional development over the long term.

You can learn more about the grant and the project here. 

Are you looking for an incredible opportunity to hone your on-camera puppeteer skills?

Sesame Workshop is looking for talented puppeteers who are familiar with the Sesame Street style of puppetry to participate in the Sesame Street Puppeteer Workshop in 2018. Click here to learn more about this amazing opportunity! 

UNIMA's Festival Sponsorship Program →

UNIMA's International Festivals Commission offers sponsorship opportunities for festivals around the world. Click here to learn about the application process and see which festivals are offering sponsorships! 

Apply for the UNIMA-USA Scholarship to Study Abroad!

Study abroad. Hone your craft. Applications are due December 1st. You can find more information about eligibility and requirements here. 

A Note from 2017 UNIMA-USA Scholarship Recipient: Dustin Curtis

I was very lucky this year and was honored to be a recipient of the UNIMA-USA scholarship for 2017.

After several years of trying to balance my non-profit arts career and establishing myself in the puppetry arts, I chose to leave my full time job and commit to my career in puppetry with a focus on shadow puppets. Around that time, I saw an international workshop listed on an UNIMA-Europe web page which caught my attention. Teatro Gioco Vita was offering an international workshop, "The Soul of Things."

Teatro Gioco Vita designer Nicoletta Garioni leading a lecture on colored shadow puppets. Here, she demonstrates the use of glass paint on polycarbonate. Photos provided by Dustin Curtis. 

I was immediately drawn to the concepts they proposed and the workshop timed with my plans of going abroad and building my experience. I decided to apply. I cannot stress enough how this opportunity changed my life and my career goals.

The workshop was intensive and introduced me to the way that Teatro Gioco Vita approaches shadow puppetry, both in the dramaturgy and in the construction of their puppets. I am still evaluating the impact this has had on my own work, and I am very excited to see how it plays out. The workshop started with understanding the relationship with the shadow through exercises, continued with an art history lesson in shadow work, had modules on puppet construction, and provided several performance opportunities. The entire workshop culminated with a twenty minute show built in collaboration with chosen classmates. I both premiered in Italy and was featured in a local Italian magazine!

Dustin and fellow student Stefano Ulivieri working with color application on their puppets. Photos provided by Dustin Curtis.

The biggest take away was the sense of community and family that I have established through this workshop. Not only was I welcomed and treated like a member of the TGV family, but I truly consider it a home away from home. The theatre welcomes past alumni to join upcoming workshops and to continue your own exploration while contributing to the current course being offered. The classmates I started with have become close and dear friends. We stay in touch and offer support in many things puppet.

My course included members from Sweden, Russia, Ireland, Malaysia, Japan, France, Germany, and many parts of Italy, including an American who recently moved to Rome (and also attended the O'Neill shortly after). Already, there is talk of working to bring each other to festivals and planning when we can expect to see each other again. I am proud to have such talented global peers.

None of this would have been possible without the support of the UNIMA-USA scholarship, and I will remain grateful of the investment made into my art and career. If you are considering applying, do it!

Eyes on Kenya: The 9th International Puppetry Festival, Kenya 2018

The Kenya Institute of Puppet Theatre (KIPT) is organizing the 9th International Puppetry Festival“IPfest ” Kenya 2018 which will take place in Nairobi, Kenya from 17th to 21th October 2018.

This will be the first time that International Puppetry Festival of this magnitude will be held in Kenya.

Alongside hosting the 9th IPFest2018, the Kenya puppetry fraternity will be celebration it’s Silver Jubilee Celebration – a celebration of 25 years of the existence of puppetry and folk media programmes for health, social justice and political change in Kenya.

Every aspect of the IPfest 2018is being designed with long term sustainability in mind and with a commitment to building partnerships between different embassies, cultural centres, theatre companies,  governments and all stakeholders across the worldinterested in investing in the future of art for children and young people.

The 2018 festival theme is Towards Breaking Barriers. The theme, “ Towards Breaking Barriers” emanates from a conscious desire to deconstruct the idea of place and space of performances through cross-border and cross cultural mixed ability puppetry, physical and object theatre presentations.

The festival also intends to create a platform of expanding, sharing and enhancing skills and knowledge of Kenyan puppeteers as creative entrepreneurs.  As such, IPFest2018 will seek to integrate and present multimedia and mixed ability puppet theatre works involving able and disabled people drawn from across the world,  through a collaborative partnership aimed towardsbreaking social, political and economic barriers across the world.

We believe that hosting the 9th International Puppetry Festival 2018 will bring about increased awareness and enhanced bilateral relationship toward development of puppetry and artistic programmes through, Cross-Border and Cross Cultural Partnership

We invite you to this memorable event as we marks 25 years of the existence of community-based puppetry programs in Kenya.

For more information on how to participate, visit www.kiptkenya.org be in touch with us.

Phylemon Odhiambo Okoth,
Director – Kenya Institute of Puppet Theatre

Want to help create a documentary about Ventriloquism?

Click here to fund the Kickstarter campaign for Vents, a documentary by Matt Picarelli about the world of ventriloquists. 

New Victory LabWorks - Currently Accepting Applications

The New Victory Theater, New York City’s premier nonprofit performing arts theater devoted year-round to kids and their families and classmates, announces the call for applications to the 2017-18 New Victory LabWorks program. This unparalleled initiative fosters the creation of new work, offers professional development and advocates for high-quality performing arts and arts engagement in the lives of young people. By providing the necessary resources and mining opportunities for professional exchange among a broad spectrum of arts professionals living and creating work in NYC, New Victory LabWorks champions innovative, venturesome performing arts for audiences of all ages.  

New Victory LabWorks is seeking applications from New York City-based artists and companies interested in creating new work for family audiences in the areas of theater, dance, music, circus, and puppetry arts.

Primarily based in the New 42nd Street Studios, artists selected for the program receive rehearsal space and a stipend as part of an experience tailored to their specific needs and individual creative processes. In addition, artists have access to the feedback and support of New Victory Artistic Programming staff as well as professional development/networking events and the chance to meet with New Victory administrative staff to learn more about how to build or enhance their company's operations and visibility. Artists may also have an opportunity to share their work with other LabWorks Artists and New Victory Member families, experiences which provide the invaluable response of peers and target audiences.

Current and previous New Victory LabWorks Artists include:  Puppet Kitchen; Blessed Unrest; Drew Petersen; Only Child Aerial Theatre; Zachary Fine; Louisa Thompson; The Civilians and Taylor Mac (commissioned by Children’s Theatre Company, Minneapolis); CollaborationTown; Dead Puppet Society; James Ortiz; Spellbound Theatre and The Village of Vale.

For more information, program requirements and the 2017-18 application, visit www.newvictory.org/About/LabWorks/Labworks-Application.

For questions, email LabWorks@new42.org. Applications will be accepted through March 10, 2017.

--

OLGA PUTILINA

ARTISTIC PROGRAMMING ASSOCIATE
 

THE NEW VICTORY® THEATER

229 W 42ND STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10036

OPUTILINA@NEW42.ORG

646.223.3000
WWW.NEWVICTORY.ORG

Ashy Slashy Puppet

Go Mad With Your Very Own Ashy Slashy Puppet!

By Brad Miska on December 16, 2016

Twitter:@bradmiska

String theory: Watch Mozart’s opera being performed by puppets

Mozart's Magic Flute reimagined with puppets!

http://www.hindustantimes.com/more-lifestyle/string-theory-watch-mozart-s-opera-being-performed-by-puppets/story-KswoPKUSm2aCM2eGtJCnlM.html

A scene from The Magic Flute (Photo courtesy: Charu Prasad)

NBC Now Casting International Puppet Show Competition

Greetings.

I was hoping you could forward our casting notice to your members.

MAJOR NETWORK CASTING

Experienced and 1st time puppet acts for new competition series.

For Los Angeles Acts, there will be scheduled private auditions.

Please submit a performance video – phone and email info.

Email to sarahfurlongcasting@gmail.com

Sarah Furlong Casting

Casting Producer

323-822-4403

Grant Application Deadline-September 7th (For Round 1)

USArtists International supports performances by American dance, music, and theater ensembles and solo artists invited to perform at important cultural festivals and arts marketplaces anywhere in the world outside the United States and its territories. Applications for Round I are due September 7, 2016 at 11:59 PM ET for engagements between December 15, 2016 and December 14, 2017. Click here for additional deadlines.

How to apply for USArtists International

Step 1: Read program guidelines carefully to ensure eligibility. Guidelines have been revised for the 2016-2017 grant cycle. Join us for a webinar below! 

Step 2: Review the work sample and budget instructions.

Step 3: Complete the online application.

Thinking about applying? There's a webinar for you!

Two webinars are scheduled to assist potential applicants, and are most helpful when attended in sequence.

USArtists International: Am I eligible?

Webinar Completed | View the Recorded Webinar

USArtists International: Am I eligible? provides program information for solo artists and performing arts ensembles considering an application to the USArtists International grant program. Gain a clear idea about who and what type of projects USArtists International funds. New applicants, previous applicants, grantees and others interested in learning more about updates to the USAI program are encouraged to review.

August 16: USArtists International: Tips & Pointers for Applicants

2:00 - 3:15 PM ET | Sign me up!
In USArtists International: 2017 Tips and Pointers for Applicants, attendees will review updates to the online application, learn what criteria panelists use to evaluate applications and receive important tips for strengthening applications. This webinar is for new applicants, previous applicants, grantees and others interested in learning more about applying to USAI. Due to new changes, attendees should read USAI program guidelines prior to attending the webinar, even if they have applied for the program in the past. A recording of this webinar will be made available on our website a week after completion.

USArtists International will have additional funds available in the 2016-2017 program year to support eligible engagements in Cuba, thanks to additional support from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Questions about USArtists International? Contact Robyn Busch at robyn@midatlanticarts.org.

USArtists International is made possible through the generous support of the National Endowment for the Arts and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Support for grantees in the Chicago area is provided by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Additional support for grantees in New York City is provided by the Howard Gilman Foundation.

6 Day Master Class in Australia-Presented by Erth and Carriageworks

Video featuring Ricky Syers work - Ricky & Doris: A Unconventional Friendship in New York City.Hi there.

MASTERCLASS - 12 to 17 September 2016

Cost $600 AU, Includes puppet making materials, suitable for 18+

Information and bookings through Erth - info@erth.com.au

Erth, in partnership with Carriageworks and artist Ricky Syers are presenting a six-day masterclass in September for puppeteers and puppet makers. The master class is for those wanting to further their skills in puppet making and puppet manipulation. Explore principles of design and construction covering some of the key materials and techniques that have become part of Erth’s signature practice. Learn performance techniques and intuition skills to create authentic puppetry.

To participate in the master class please submit the following items to info@erth.com.au:

• A short intro outlining who you are and the nature of your creative practice (Max 1 page)
•  CV or Resume
• 5-10 images of your work or up to 3 web links to your work