Date: Tue, 06 Oct 2009 21:05:07 -0500 (CDT)
From: Charles Taylor <cecetaylor-AT-verizon.net>
To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
Subject: [Puptcrit] What is a Puppeteer? Why?
HTML VERSION:
Perhaps the question could be asked, WHY is a puppeteer?
This has been an interesting thread regarding puppeteers and respect. I suspect though I, as many others, take it so seriously I loose the bigger picture that I =E2=80=9Cdo It=E2=80=99 for the pure joy that puppetry gives me as others in other professions are there for the joy and not necessarily for =E2=80=9Cbig bucks=E2=80=9D. The teaching profession was so for me. I didn=E2=80=99t get rich in money by teaching. As I dispose of my old teaching supplies, I marvel I what I actually accomplished and look back nostalgically realizing that I must have truly enjoyed it to stay at that profession for forty five years.
And now that I am retired and at the mature age of 69, I am working as a seasonal employee at Knott=E2=80=99s Berry Farm for the whopping salary of ten bucks an hour. My sculpting and puppeteering abilities have qualified me for this position. I am enjoying doing what I love to do. And when I worry about the quality of my work, I'm told, "Not to"! I'm told that if anyone notices imperfections in my work, they, they rest of the crew, are not doing their job right. That was difficult for me to believe until I went through one of the Haunt Mazes and realized my part was so insignificant in the over-all picture that it is hardly noticeable. Even I couldn't see imperfections that I knew were there.
Thank you Alan for pointing out the elephant in the room. Puppetry IS ART! And, thanks for the point that some self-taught geniuses need more credit.
I especially liked =E2=80=9CNecessity is the Mother of Invention---one of the appeals of puppetry to many, is that it needs solutions to problems---and all those 'how can I ?' questions on puptcrit just confirms this. - Even determining WHAT is needed can be a challenge.=E2=80=9C
That is what art teaches: Solving Problems. That is what creative puppeteers do: Solve Problems.
It is unfortunate that in this age the arts are being diminished in elementary public education with more time being spent on academics with the purpose to raise test scores. Fewer teachers find time for art, music, puppetry, drama. All the lip service to problem solving in education is for naught! In kindergarten, even blocks have been drummed out of most kindergarten curriculums because those in charge don=E2=80=99t see the value in blocks for problem solving.
My puppetry arts were discouraged because in recent years supervisors couldn't or wouldn't see the value of puppetry in education even though I demonstrated how it could improve academic achievement. The bias in Southern California and Long Beach Unified School District specifically is now stronger than any quality puppet program could overcome. It comes from the top Superintendent of Instruction.
Too sad how some academicians are limited and limiting the experiences of children all across the nation.