From: Christopher Hudert <heyhoot-AT-mindspring.com>
Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2010 21:49:20 -0400
To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] ants and grasshoppers



On Mar 14, 2010, at 1:14 PM, puppetpro-AT-aol.com wrote:

> At a recent residency, I directed Kindergarteners to perform "The Ants 
> and the Grasshoppers". When I modeled the story for them, I changed it 
> so that the ants were merciful to the grasshoppers and paid them (in 
> food) for their singing and dancing. It was a significant change to 
> the moral of the story, but I thought that for the kindergarteners, we 
> really needed to teach them about sharing ...
> Then, it so happened that all the girls in the class wanted to be 
> grasshoppers and all the boys wanted to be the ants. So, I'm afraid 
> that quite another "message" could have been read into a rather 
> innocent rewriting of the tale. The teachers and I kept our mouths 
> shut about that one.
>
> Rolande

Funny, in my version of A&G, I do the same basic thing. Because the ant 
has worked hard through the summer and fall gathering up food, he has 
enough to share, and because the grasshopper is his friend, the ant 
shows mercy on the grasshopper and invites him to stay with him through 
the winter. BUT he doesn't get a free ride. He has to help with the 
chores and sing for his supper. Of course since my grasshopper is based 
on Elvis, singing is what he does best and is happy to do so. So I 
guess, through the ant, I also show it's good to have a bit of 
appreciation for the arts too.

Not that it's germane to this, but in the same Aesop show my tortoise 
is a girl. There is a bit of a put down by the hare that a girl 
couldn't beat him in the race, which of course she does, so there is a 
little bit of hidden gender message too.

Christopher

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