Upcoming Events
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"Building Puppeteers: How We Got Here and Where are We Going" with Bart Roccoberton7:00pm
9/19
"Building Puppeteers: How We Got Here and Where are We Going" with Bart Roccoberton
Thursday, September 19th, 2019
07:00 PM - 08:30 PM
Storrs Campus Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry, 1 Royce Circle, Downtown Storrs
For its first installment of the 2019 Fall Puppet Forum Series, and in conjunction with the exhibit It’s Always Pandemonium: The Puppets of Bart Roccoberton, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut will host Building Puppeteers: How We Got Here and Where are We Going with UConn Puppet Arts Program Director Bart. P. Roccoberton, Jr. on Thursday, Sept. 19 at 7 p.m. at the Ballard Institute Theater, located at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs.
Join Professor Bart Roccoberton in a discussion about the past, present, and future of UConn’s unique international resource, the UConn Puppet Arts Program. Cosponsored by the UConn Puppet Arts Program, this forum takes place in conjunction with the Ballard Institute exhibit It’s Always Pandemonium: The Puppets of Bart Roccoberton, on display through Sept. 29, 2019.
Bart. P. Roccoberton, Jr. is Director of the University of Connecticut’s Puppet Arts Program—the only one of its kind in the U.S.—which offers BFA, MA, and MFA degrees in puppetry. His professional projects include work in film, television and the stage, including Broadway. He serves the National Puppetry Conference at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center as Director of Production, and is recognized internationally as an advocate for the puppet arts in the United States.
Admission to this event is free (donations greatly appreciated!), and refreshments will be served. Come early, and experience our puppet exhibitions, as well as the video resources in our library nook. Forums will be broadcast via Facebook Live. For more information or if you require an accommodation to attend a forum, please contact Ballard Institute staff at 860.486.8580 or bimp@uconn.edu. -
Transfigurations: Cellist Sophie Shao and Friends8:00pm
9/19
Transfigurations: Cellist Sophie Shao and Friends
Thursday, September 19th, 2019
08:00 PM - 09:30 PM
Storrs Campus von der Mehden Recital Hall
UConn cello professor Sophie Shao performs a program of remarkable sextets with chamber music legends Jennifer Frautschi and Zachary DePue, violins; Che-Yen Chen and Paul Neubauer, violas; and Fred Sherry, cello. The program includes fantasias by Orlando Gibbons, Arnold Schoenberg's Verklärte Nacht, and Johannes Brahms's Sextet No. 1 in B-flat Major, Op. 18. -
2019 UConn Fall Puppet Slam8:00pm
9/20
2019 UConn Fall Puppet Slam
Friday, September 20th, 2019
08:00 PM - 09:30 PM
Storrs Campus von der Mehden Recital Hall, 875 Coventry Rd, Storrs, CT 06269
The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry and the UConn Puppet Arts Program will present the 2019 UConn Fall Puppet Slam on Friday, Sept. 20, 2019 at 8 p.m. in UConn’s von der Mehden Recital Hall located at 875 Coventry Rd, Storrs, Conn. 06269. The UConn Fall Puppet Slam will feature short works by professional puppeteers and performers from around New England, including Lilypad Puppet Theatre, Austin Costello, Anatar Marmol-Gagné, and Katayoun Amir-Aslani, as well as new works by Puppet Arts students and puppet animation films by students from UConn's School of Fine Arts.
The 2019 UConn Fall Puppet Slam will showcase the work of Lily Gershon and Matt Ocone of Lilypad Puppet Theatre, a company from Ithaca, NY who will perform The Robot’s Ballet, in which a robot learns to dance when a room full of toys is left for the night; and Mr. Blue and his Radio, in which the title character finds out more than he ever wanted to know as he's listening to his radio. The show will feature live music from classically trained Matthew Ocone. UConn Puppet Arts alumnus Austin Costello will present a new music video by Danny Weinkauf (longtime bassist for They Might Be Giants) featuring puppets for Weinkauf’s song The Moon is Made of Cheese. UConn Puppet Arts alumnae Anatar Marmol-Gagné and Katayoun Amir-Aslani will present Katatar’s Traveling Circus, which features a two-woman traveling circus who perform over-the-top, absurd, and ridiculous acts with humanettes. They will also perform an excerpt from their production about Frida Kahlo, Calle Allende. The UConn Fall Puppet Slam will also feature new works by UConn graduate and undergraduate students studying puppetry and animation. Funding for the UConn Fall Puppet Slam is made possible in part by the Puppet Slam Network.
The UConn Fall Puppet Slam is free and open to the public; donations are greatly appreciated. Seating is limited and is on a first-come, first-served basis. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. The event will take place in UConn's von der Mehden Recital Hall located at 875 Coventry Rd, Storrs, Conn. For directions to the von der Mehden Recital Hall, visit http://vdm.uconn.edu. These performances are recommended for mature audiences. For more information about these performances or if you require an accommodation to attend this event, please contact Ballard Institute staff at 860-486-8580 or bimp@uconn.edu. -
Gilberto Santa Rosa8:00pm
9/21
Gilberto Santa Rosa
Saturday, September 21st, 2019
08:00 PM - 10:00 PM
Storrs Campus Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts
A Hispanic Heritage Month Event
Dance Cabaret | Latin Food & Cash Bar
Break out your dancing shoes! Our open dance floor is beckoning to you with the irresistible sounds of living legend Gilberto Santa Rosa, "El Cabellero de la Salsa" (the Gentleman of Salsa). Dance, drink and enjoy delicious Latin fare in Jorgensen's candlelit cabaret setting.
Co-sponsored by PRLACC
Media Sponsors: NBC-Telemundo CT, WFCR/NEPR, & WTIC 1080
Sponsor: Luna Productions
Tickets: https://jorgensen.uconn.edu -
Salon at the Benton: Art and Conversation5:00pm
9/27
Salon at the Benton: Art and Conversation
Friday, September 27th, 2019
05:00 PM - 07:00 PM
Storrs Campus The William Benton Museum of Art
In and Out of Africa: Collecting and Exhibiting African Art
This panel will examine the modern history of collecting and exhibiting "traditional" works of art and material culture from Africa. Using the current exhibition Souvenirs d'Afrique: Arts of Africa from the Collection of Janine and Josef Gugler as a springboard, the panelists will consider issues of authenticity, ethics, cross-cultural aesthetic appreciation, and museum display techniques.
Moderator: Christopher B. Steiner, Lucy C. McDannel ’22 Professor of Art History and Anthropology at Connecticut College
Panelists: More details soon -
Homebodies by Alex & Olmsted8:00pm
9/27
Homebodies by Alex & Olmsted
Friday, September 27th, 2019
08:00 PM - 09:30 PM
Storrs Campus Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry
As part of its newly created "Evening Puppet Show Series" for adult and teen audiences, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut is pleased to present "Homebodies" by the Maryland-based company Alex & Olmsted on Sept. 27, 2019 at 8 p.m. in the Ballard Institute Theater, located at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs.
Alex & Olmsted (creators of the Jim Henson Foundation Grant-awarded "Milo the Magnificent") present "Homebodies", a new show that explores the concepts of house and home. Centered on a 30-cubic-inch puzzle box that has trick doors and amenities, Alex & Olmsted combine physical comedy and puppetry to unlock the house of the imagination. This show is 70 minutes with no intermission.
The Baltimore Independent Theater Review writes that "Alex Vernon and Sarah Olmsted Thomas are simply masters of their craft. Not only constructing this magical box (no small feat), but a night clerk hotel bellhop puppet that looks like he escaped from a "Twilight Zone" episode. Their attention to detail and improvisation is top-notch. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen two actors work with and off each other in such complete unison. It is as if they are one person divided into two.”
Alex & Olmsted (Alex Vernon and Sarah Olmsted Thomas) is an internationally-acclaimed puppet theater company. In recent years, they have performed at the Puppet Festival Chuncheon in South Korea, the Festival de Casteliers in Montréal, the Festival of Animated Objects in Calgary, and Symphony Space in New York City. In 2019, they will have their European premiere at the Festival of Wonder in Silkeborg, Denmark. Milo the Magnificent was awarded a 2017 Jim Henson Foundation Grant and a Greenbelt Community Foundation Grant. Alex & Olmsted are resident artists at the Baltimore Theatre Project. They are also proud company members of Happenstance Theater, with whom they have created 10 productions since 2012.
Ticket Prices: Adults: $12; Members/Seniors: $10; Students: $8.
Alex & Olmsted will also perform their show Milo the Magnificent on Saturday, Sept. 28 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the Ballard Institute as part of our 2019 Fall Puppet Show Series. For more information or to buy tickets for this show, visit http://bimp.ticketleap.com.
Tickets can be purchased in advance at the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry, by calling 860-486-8580, or online at http://bimp.ticketleap.com. A surcharge will be added to any purchases made online. Tickets may also be purchased at the Ballard Institute on the day of performance starting at 10 a.m. There will be open seating and no reservations. Visitors can park in the Storrs Center Garage located at 33 Royce Circle. Parking is free for the first two hours and $1 per hour thereafter, with a daily maximum charge of $8. For more information about these performances or if you require an accommodation to attend this event, please contact Ballard Institute staff at 860-486-8580 or bimp@uconn.edu.
