As warm days come around more often in the last couple weeks of the semester, the Ballard Institute of Puppetry is offering a way to spend this coming weekend outside with bright puppets, exciting activities and powerful art. On April 20 and 21, “I am the Village: A Puppet Pageant Celebrating the Life and Art of Marc Chagall,” written by Alyson Doyle and directed by Mel Carter alongside Doyle, will liven up Betsy Paterson Square in Downtown Storrs. All parts of the event are free and open to the public.
According to a Ballard Institute release, events will begin at 1:30 p.m. on both days “with a free, outdoor public puppet-making workshop at the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry, where participants can paint an emotive umbrella or fish.” Later in the day at 3:30 p.m., the community’s puppet creations can join a parade around Betsy Paterson Square lasting for 45 minutes.
John Bell, the museum director of the Ballard Institute, and Doyle shared the motivations and ideas behind the project.
Bell explained that there is a long history of community-driven events hosted by the Ballard Institute in Storrs, as “The Ballard Institute does a fall pageant every year … it started in connection with the Celebrate Mansfield Festival and has really grown with the creation of Downtown Storrs.”
Even after the Celebrate Mansfield Festival stopped holding parades as part of their events, the Ballard Institute continued the pageants. “We invite anybody in the community to come; we make puppets, we decide on the theme. The last one was about the history of Mansfield” Bell added.
As the final project for her Master of Fine Arts program, Doyle worked closely with Bell and staff at the Ballard Institute when putting together the pageant. “When Alyson said she was interested in working in that area … I thought, ‘Well that’s a great idea.’ She wanted to focus on the Russian artist Marc Chagall, who was a modernist painter in the early 20th century, and a Jewish artist who experienced repression and antisemitism in Russia.”
Chagall, the centerpiece for the puppetry style and designs to be featured at the pageant, was an inspiration for Doyle to begin the project during her education in puppetry and the performing arts. “I always had Marc Chagall in the back of my mind, and I just think it’s quite remarkable what he overcame in his life,” she said.
When Alyson said she was interested in working in that area … I thought, ‘Well that’s a great idea.’ She wanted to focus on the Russian artist Marc Chagall, who was a modernist painter in the early 20th century, and a Jewish artist who experienced repression and antisemitism in Russia.
John Bell, the museum director of the Ballard Institute
Doyle explained Chagall’s survival through the Russian Revolution, World War I and subsequent endurance through Kristallnacht — the brutal expulsion of the Jews in Germany. Doyle added, “He was born in a huge family, in a poor Shtetl village. His faith and his love of his parents kept him going.”
Despite the hardships and horrors Chagall faced, Doyle observed that “his work never really got dark, it was always a combination of romanticism, surrealism, he tried everything along the way.”
Through the life of Chagall and using his works as a starting point for the pageant, Doyle centered on the fact that thanks to the courage and beauty in the works of individuals like Chagall, a larger dialogue on trauma and oppression can come to be. Now, Doyle centered on the fact that art enables communities to begin “potentially processing trauma.” She added, “To me, [Chagall’s] life is a testament to how art can help you do that.”
Through the pageant, Doyle’s goal is to bring light and energy to the community, and to do so, Doyle explained that “I have a feeling that the combination of art aesthetics and kinesthetics … help people process emotions more.” By creating umbrellas and large colorful fish, Chagall’s puppetry blends the processes of creation and reflection. Doyle mentioned “flocking” which she learned about in her undergraduate studies, where an ensemble anticipates each other’s moves like a flock of birds. “These things in drama create a sense of empathy in ensembles; then it can translate to the community.”
Featured among the puppets to be seen at the pageant are decorated umbrellas, shining fish, a large green horse hat, and intricate puppets blended with stained glass and elements of “cubism” as Doyle explained. Each piece has a powerful meaning behind it, whether it be the pains incurred by antisemitism, reflections on the trauma of Kristallnacht or the preservation of identity.
For those attending or watching the pageant, Doyle emphasized the issues that such a community-driven event can tackle: “We’re getting to the point of individuality in society but it’s a weird transitional time right now.” To help along that transitional process, Doyle explained “I want to bring joy to people in ways of seeing how other people exist, how other people feel things, how people experience things. But ultimately, I really want his love of life to translate regardless of circumstance.”
For those able to attend this weekend, the workshops are a great opportunity to get even more familiar with the powerful work of Marc Chagall and designing puppets. The following parade will be a lively experience for the community to gather around the joy of expression and individuality. If the weather is poor, the event will be held inside the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry, located at 1 Royce Circle, Storrs.