File puptcrit/puptcrit.1003, message 370


From: Vladimir Vasyagin <vasyagin-AT-hotmail.com>
To: <puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org>
Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 18:12:38 -0400
Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] ants and grasshoppers



Well. I think
it's not Aesop =93mistake=94. He wrote it about how terrible is to have an Ape on
the King Thorn actually.
Vladimir



> Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2010 16:05:52 -0400
> From: sheepwpunks-AT-gmail.com
> To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
> Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] ants and grasshoppers
> 
> I've always found Aesop to be quite the fascinating fellow. I've heard
> people describe his stories as 'Morale Tales' but I'm not sure if this
> is true. For me they have a distinct smell of even amorality about
> them, in as much that it is not how nice/innocent you are, it's the
> actions you take that determine whether or not your survive. I found
> an interesting Aesop fable that illustrates this:
> 
> (paraphrased)
> Two human ambassadors appeared before the King of the Apes. The Ape
> king asked the first ambassador, who came from a country of liars,
> what he thought of the Ape King's kingdom.
> "A brilliant place your majesty" fawned the lying ambassador, "full of
> marvels, and your own subjects are clearly learned and disciplined as
> a people."
> Pleased, the Ape King turned to the second Ambassador, who came from
> an honest nation, and asked him the same question. "Well," mused the
> Ambassador, "Really, you're a lot of hairy apes, aren't you?"
> The Apes tore the honest man to pieces.
> 
> Hence it may be said that the Grasshopper did not starve because he
> had nothing worthwhile to contribute to society - he starved because
> the Ants did not want what he had to offer, and they had all the
> power.
> In other news, my uncle is an accountant.
> 
> -A
> On Sun, Mar 14, 2010 at 3:00 PM, Steve Abrams <sapuppets-AT-gmail.com> wrote:
> > I have been doing Aesop for years but have always avoided "ant and
> > grasshopper" because I did not like the ant's point of view.
> > My favorite up-side down version is Leo Lionni's "Fredrick". Its all about
> > mice, but it is really a sweet retelling of ant and grasshopper the features
> > a mouse/poet who does not gather supplies for the winter.
> >
> > A few summers ago, the library theme for the summer was "bugs" so I thought
> > I needed to accept the challenge of doing "ant and grasshopper"
> >
> > I looked at many versions, but I was pretty much convinced that the harsh
> > version is closest to the original.
> >
> > I came up with a version, but it didnt have enough action.
> > I realized that grasshoppers hop! duh! and if I could have him hop around a
> > lot it might help. I started having my grasshopper hop more.
> >  grasshoppers were energetic and not lazy slackers.(same is true for
> > artists)
> >
> > Then I realized that my hopping grasshopper was a lot like my nephew who has
> > ADD (attention deficit disorder)
> >
> >
> > every time the ant tried to engage the grasshopper in conversation, the
> > grasshopper could not focus and would hop away.
> >
> > I began audience testing and realized I had struck gold.
> >
> > The ant got more and more frustrated with the grasshopper's jumping.
> >
> > The more frustrated the ant  became, the more the audience liked it. (do
> > kids like to drive their parents crazy?)
> >
> > I had lots of action and emotion instead of chit chat
> >
> > It is a perfect metaphor for many parent-child encounters (whether or not
> > the kid is ADD)
> >
> > I ended with the ant forgiving the grasshopper and I had a way of doing the
> > tale that I could perform enthusiastically
> > Steve
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On Sun, 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
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: Alan Cook <alangregorycook-AT-msn.com>
> >> To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
> >> Sent: Sat, Mar 13, 2010 1:38 pm
> >> Subject: [Puptcrit] SUPPORT of the arts/Slow wheels of government
> >>
> >>
> >> Thanks, Rolande for enduring the Funding Cuts hearing process. At City
> >> Council
> >> Meetings it is not unusual to see Council Members reading magazines or even
> >> dozing while "important matters" are supposedly being discussed. They may
> >> already be overloaded with sensory input or be merely incompetant. It is
> >> not any
> >> different when you work up to Congress or the Senate.
> >>
> >> While feedng the homeless, providing healthcare, etc. are important, so is
> >> feeding curiosity, educating the ignorant, and providing the foundation the
> >> Arts
> >> provide for being complete human beings with purpose and understanding,
> >> with
> >> exhilaration for life and its interconnections.
> >>
> >> Aesop's Fable, THE ANT & THE GRASSHOPPER can be inerpreted in TWO ways. The
> >> traditional view was that the Ant was a noble, hard worker and the
> >> Grasshopper
> >> was a slacker (as if his musical talents had no value). A more truthful
> >> interpretation: the Grasshopper could add something to our lives besides
> >> drudgery.
> >>
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
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> >>
> >>
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> >>
> > _______________________________________________
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> >
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