Borderless Arts Tennessee participants are partnering with the Nashville Children’s Theatre this February to learn how to create and operate shadow puppets for a family-friendly performance of Hans Christian Andersen Fables. Shadow puppetry is the oldest form of puppetry in the world, dating back to the first millennium BCE. It originated in China and India but is now a global, form of art and storytelling. Shadow puppets are silhouette figures that are typically constructed out of leather or paper. Using rods, puppeteers move these puppets behind a paper or cloth screen that is illuminated from behind.
Under the guidance of two theater production artists, young-adult artists with disabilities are partaking in two workshops, lasting two hours each, in which they are crafting the shadow puppets for their performances. The first puppet construction workshop they participated in was on February 8th, and the second one will take place on February 15th.
The Hans Christian Andersen project is funded by the Tennessee Arts Commission with support from Mark and Niki Antonini through the Teapot Diplomat program.
The Borderless Arts participants include:
Hannah Antonio
Aubrey O Callaghan
Austin King
Matthew Loveland
Lizzie Markham
Hope McKee
Erica McMurray
Thomais Moshopoulos
Maggie Perry
Jonathan Pfieffer
Torie Summers
Story by Borderless Arts Intern, Emily Garrett
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