PUPPET POWER 2022 – CELEBRATION
“People of our time are losing the power of celebration. Instead of celebrating we seek to be amused or entertained. Celebration is an active state, an act of expressing reverence or appreciation. To be entertained is a passive state–it is to receive pleasure afforded by an amusing act or a spectacle…. Celebration is a confrontation, giving attention to the transcendent meaning of one’s actions. Source: The Wisdom of Heschel”
― Abraham Joshua Heschel
Our current working theme for Puppet Power 2022 is Celebration. As we consider this theme in the context of events and challenges we have recently faced both as individuals and as a collective, we wanted to ask:
What are you looking forward to celebrating as the world opens up and we can gather again?
What is the difference between celebration and entertainment?
What role does Puppetry and performing arts have in promoting celebration?
What about anti-celebration?
Puppet Power 2022 will be a hybrid online/in-person event.
Schedule:
Funding Applications Jan 2021 – Dec 2021
Call for Proposals – Prospective Presenters: Spring 2021
Call for Proposals Close – Presenters Selected: Fall 2021
Presenter Line-Up – Announce Winter 2021/2022
Ticket Sales Open: Feb 2022
World Puppetry Day: March 2022
Puppet Power 2022: May/June 2022 Dates TBC
About Puppet Power
Wendy Passmore-Godfrey, Founder, Artistic and Executive Director of W.P. Puppet Theatre served on the Puppeteers of America Board of Directors for 5 years and identified a real need for Professional Development for Applied Puppetry in Western Canada.
W.P. Puppet Theatre values originality and imagination and believes puppets have a special role as proxies and that art has a responsibility and opportunity to mirror and shape reality. We experiment with the definition of ‘puppet art’ and showcase the potential of this medium.
Puppet Power supports our mission by exploring the theory and practice of how puppetry arts promote positive social change. It provides inspiration, modelling, peer mentorship and alliance-building, as well as hands-on training in all facets of using puppets.
Produced biennially since 1999, our event draws between 100 – 200 local, national, and international attendees from three demographics:
- Helping Professionals i.e. teachers, social workers, therapists, health care workers who use or are interested in using puppetry in their practices.
- Artists looking for professional development, ideas, other ways to extend their practice, and make connections.
- Thought Leaders, Idea Generators, and Students who contribute to and are interested in current events and social issues of our time.
This special event features local, Canadian, and international master puppeteers presenting inspiring talks, practical how-to workshops, and/or puppetry-based performances over the weekend. Panelists discuss intriguing ideas, peers mentor peers, and a community is created that calls for action on a different social issue theme each year.
Attending puppet artists have opportunities to expand or deepen their practice as they network with general attendees and/or meet/share ideas with the master presenters.
Previous themes have included existentialism, multiculturalism & diversity, literacy, therapy, social action, and intergenerational communities.
