Deezone.com

I’m excited to report that I’m in the middle of recovering from a two week intensive workshop on puppetry at the Banff Centre for the Arts, Banff, Alberata, Canada. The location alone is inspiring but the workshop has easily been a classic “life altering experience”.

The course is lead by Peter Balkwill of the Old Trout Puppet Workshop of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The Old Trouts have gained some fame recently in the world arts community but also in the general public with the success of their production Famous Puppet Death Scenes.

I had the pleasure of seeing their show in Vancouver last year due to some encouragement from my friend Julia. I had no clue at the time that a year later I would be working through exercises that will help me understand a little bit of the magic that goes behind their shows.

Terms like “Beginners Mind” (Shoshin or 初心, also pronounced nyuanshin), “Impulse Articulation“, “The Silent Narrative” and “Statue “Tableau”” are now running through my head leaving me wondering how I will see the world with this new understanding. All of these concepts come from Puppetry techniques and to my surprise Zen ideals by Shunryu Suzuki.

Photos and details of the workshop to follow…