Abstract

Dive into a playful workshop where you’ll team up to create simple yet engaging paper puppets. Together, you’ll bring these puppets to life, using them to express gestures, emotions and weave simple yet captivating stories.

You’ll learn to tune into non-verbal cues, collaborate wordlessly, and discover a little magic through shared storytelling. Puppetry is a fantastic way to boost patience, precision, and collaborative communication.

This workshop is all about deconstructing body language, honing performance skills, and fostering teamwork. Plus, you’ll explore different perspectives and emotions, building empathy and understanding along the way.

Session and activities

Working in small groups of 4-5 you will make a simple paper puppet, which you will then learn to animate by exploring three key principles, breath, focus, and gravity. By channeling energy through your puppet as a team, you will learn to listen and respond to non-verbal cues and work collaboratively to create and share simple little stories demonstrating how powerful clarity of gesture can be.

Through the puppet, you will explore gestures and body language to convey emotions and actions. As a team, you will reflect on the intent of your puppets movements and how these are interpreted by your audience, making every movement count to ensure the clarity of your puppet’s actions.

By sharing little vignettes you will experience the power and empowering nature of puppets as you learn to embody the puppets mind-set and speak directly to your audiences emotions and activate empathy.

The session will be fun, exploratory, revealing and memorable.

No puppetry experience is necessary but a willingness to play is. Comfortable clothes and shoes recommended. Note too, that you will be working in very close proximity to one another as each puppet will be operated by three people with another two observing and directing.