The Ballard Institute Presents 'Art And Life Of The Independent Theater Maker' With Yael Rasooly

For its first installment of the 2019 Spring Puppet Forum Series, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut will host Choose the Path of Creation: Art and Life of the Independent Theater Maker on Wednesday Feb. 20 at 7 p.m. at the Ballard Institute Theater, located at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs.

Drawing from her own exceptional career and artistic path, puppeteer and singer Yael Rasooly will look with a candid eye at the liberation of the imagination, and at the practical and mundane aspects of a challenging and rewarding profession and life style. The focus of the talk will tune into the intricate and rich medium of visual theater and puppetry, as a source of self-expression and inner development of an artist.

Yael Rasooly is one of Israel's prominent independent theater makers. She specializes in contemporary visual and object theater and has directed several Internationally acclaimed performances, both in Israel and Europe, which have been performed in over 30 countries worldwide. Yael was the international guest artist at the 2018 National Puppetry Conference at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, CT. Yael Rasooly is also a singer of international reputation and her cabaret performance, Glamour in the Dark, is currently touring around the world.

Upcoming 2019 Spring Puppet Forums include:

March 27: The Royal de Luxe Giants in Montreal: Poetics and Logistics in the Animation of Urban Space with Mark Sussman
Mark Sussman will discuss the Royal de Luxe company's 2017 rare North American appearance in Montreal as part of the city's 375th anniversary celebration. Based in Nantes, France and led by director Jean-Luc Courcoult, the company tours the globe with a collection of giants: marionette-like figures operated by expertly trained teams of Lilliputian performers in a series of monumental and architectural interventions in the fabric of daily life.

April 10: Holy Puppets: Performing Objects in the Middle Ages with Michelle Oing
From puppets of Christ to fire-breathing dragons, the medieval world was full of performing objects. In this talk, art historian Michelle Oing explores the way in which puppets were used in late medieval European culture to understand humanity's place in the cosmos.

May 1: Wayang Puppet Theatre of Indonesia: Collective Creativity and Individual Agency with Matthew Cohen
This talk, illustrated by puppets from the unmatched Dr. Walter Angst and Sir Henry Angest Collection of Indonesian Puppets at Yale University Art Gallery, explores the dynamics of collective and individual agency in wayang during the colonial and postcolonial periods as a reflex of the changing world.

Admission to this event is free (donations greatly appreciated!), and refreshments will be served. Come early, and experience our puppet exhibitions, as well as the video resources in our library nook. Forums will be broadcast via Facebook Live. For more information, or if you require an accommodation to attend a forum, please contact Ballard Institute staff at 860.486.8580 or bimp@uconn.edu.