Intro to Performing Arts | Friday, 2nd Period

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Good morning, everyone! Hope you had fun in Japan if you went," Annie greeted the class, with her right hand notably behind her back. "So, I promised you something before we went on break, and we're sticking to it: an incredibly important part of being onstage is the ability to do ridiculous things without cracking up." She paused. "Or argument. It's important to laugh at yourself and be silly."

So, to that end, she pulled out her hand from behind her back, and in a not great show of ventriloquism, said from the corner of her mouth, "So we're gonna make puppets!"

"Puppet theater," Annie's puppet informed them, "has been a popular form of entertainment for years. There's literally dozens of different types of puppets -- the main, unifying concept is that it's a small figure you control with your hand. This little gal is -- spoilers -- my hand in a sock, but there's also marionettes, puppets that use sticks, puppets that use wands, and basically, if you can move your puppet around, congrats, you made a puppet."

Annie pointed with her free hand to the soooo moddable puppet-crafting supplies. "Make yourselves a puppet," she invited in her normal voice. "And then give it a name and a voice, and test out what kind of character you'd want it to be. Don't be afraid to be silly with it -- the more comfortable you are with being kind of dumb, the better shape you're in."