To: puptcrit-AT-lists.driftline.org
Date: Sun, 7 May 2006 18:16:04 -0400
Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] What is this in English?


Disagree a bit, Mary.....I looked up "planche" in my daughter's french book
and it means board or plank. "Planchette" would mean little board....The
one in France the musician is standing up, in Appalachia, the musician
sits. Understanding how music and theatre were transported from Europe to
America, there could possibly a connection between these two forms of
entertainment. 

Mary

"The great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do."
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choices one makes. In the long run, we shape our lives and we shape
ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And, the choices we make
are ultimately our own responsibility."-----Eleanor Roosevelt

"Somebody should tell us, right at the start of our lives, that we are
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> [Original Message]
> From: Mary Robinette Kowal <mary-AT-otherhandproductions.com>
> To: <puptcrit-AT-lists.driftline.org>
> Date: 5/7/2006 5:36:17 PM
> Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] What is this in English?
>
> I've worked limberjacks before and they are almost more of a
> percussion instrument than a puppet.  While the movement of the two is
> similar, the manipulation is so different that I don't think they are
> the same form.
>
> The limberjack has a rod coming out of the middle of its back.  The
> performer sits on a bench or chair (or step) and places a thin plank
> under his leg.  It's usually between the legs, actually.  The puppet
> stands on this mini-playboard.  Movement is generated by tapping the
> plank so it bounces up and down.  Additional animation, like flipping,
> can happen from spinning the rod, but most of the bounce comes from
> the plank.
>
> Thanks for your help with the word "planchette."
>
> Mary
>
> On 5/7/06, BiersBlackwood-AT-aol.com <BiersBlackwood-AT-aol.com> wrote:
> > Mary,
> >
> > Limberjack!   That was the word I was trying to remember.   Limberjacks
in
> > the Appalachians could indeed have been derived from planchettes used in
> > England, but not being an expert on either, I'm wondering if the
limberjack isn't
> > actually a simpler device?   Isn't it operated a little more directly
than the
> > traditional planchette?   The planchette, I believe, requires a string
wrapped
> > around the leg of a standing street busker, as in the Southwark Fair
engraving.
> >   But it could be the limberjack works in the same way, and I just don't
> > recall it properly.
> >
> > Someone in American folk puppetry should know....
> >
> > Whether it is the same, or a derivative, or merely a related form of
jigging
> > puppet, it is likely it came over from England or Ireland.   Traces of
> > Elizabethan English supposedly existed in parts of the Appalachian
Mountains as late
> > as the last century.
> >
> > Sean K.
> >
> >
> > In a message dated 5/7/06 5:02:00 PM, mphorsley-AT-earthlink.net writes:
> >
> >
> > > Would these Planchette puppets be a predecessor to the Appalachian
> > > Limberjack dolls made to dance on a wooden paddle and also used as
musical
> > > accompaniant?
> > >
> > > Mary
> > > Mechanicsville, VA.
> > >
> > >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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>
>
> --
> ---
> Mary Robinette Kowal
> http://www.maryrobinettekowal.com
> _______________________________________________
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