Extra! Extra! Read all about Center for puppetry art

To the Center, exciting

We are here, a dream come true

Extra!  Extra! 

Read all about it 

Dedicated to the wonderful people at 

CENTER  FOR  PUPPETRY Arts  

Atlanta, Georgia

As The pointers sisters many times told us, 

“I am so excited” (Tonight)

  

I'm so excited, and I just can't hide it

I'm about to lose control and I think I like it

And I know, I know, I know, I know

I know I want to, want to

We shouldn't even think about tomorrow

Sweet memories will last a long, long time

We'll have a good time baby, don't you worry

Let's get excited, we just can't hide it

I'm about to lose control and I think I like it

I'm so excited, and I just can't hide it

I really “CAN’T HIDE IT”…

THE STANZA TEAM

N. Benedict Tratta and the Stanza degli specchi team most recent flights and adventures in their ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION.
  
“Not only the places we visited but most important, the people we met and shared with” C E N T E R    F O R   P U P P E T R Y  Arts, “It was like a dream come true, a unique, magical place and the people there…” We will tell you about what happened during the visit.

ABOUT OUR TRIP - details 
     
Locations: Miami, FL., Atlanta, Decatur, and Savannah GA., Nashville and Gatlinburg, Tenn., Louisville, KY., Columbia and Charleston, SC. and the wonderful visit to Great Smoky Mountains and Mammoth Cave 
   
Our route most meaningful sites: Every Cultural and Art Spot

Categories: Museums, Theatres, Organizations, Societies and Schools, Monuments, Art Galleries, Art Center and others

*High lights of the Trip: Many of the Art Centers and Museums but this one goes to a place where you see the happiest, most excited, enthusiastic and committed people.  We would like to  dedicate these memories to our new friends at C E N T E R   F O R   P U P P E T R Y  Arts.  
“When I first arrived there it felt like I had just returned back HOME”.     Benny Tratta.   
Thank you so, so very much. 

Mr William

People we met and contacted: 

WILLIAM - a self-motivated person, my personal museum guide (took me all around), a great gift for the day, charming personality, full of gratitude; Thank you for your initiative and interest 

Damon Young - Lead Teaching Artist, a spectacular teacher an exciting person; Thank you for all your help

Aretta Baumgartner - Education Director, a most motivated person and enthusiastic spirit; thank  you for everything Aretta, it was wonderful meeting and sharing with you, we will be seeing each other soon

Meghan Fuller – UNIMA - USA, Membership Services - going for the goal and mission, a very kind person; Thank you for your interest and sharing the pyp Resource Guide and the publications 

Vince Anthony - Executive Director, a dedicated and committed person, showing his love for the job he does, a very busy person; thank you for the time

*Others: I am very sorry I did not get the following persons’ names, but you are all in my heart

Two teaching Artists and workshop facilitators, very, very happy persons

A young woman who gets the materials ready for the workshops, a dedicated happy Lady

Four people at the basement workshop - three guys and a girl - happy, happy, creative and dedicated team; thank you for telling me about your work, it was amazing

A young woman at the reception counter - a very kind soul

The lady at the Museum Shop - a very sweet Lady; thank you for sharing and all the information











Just a bit of the fun visit to C E N T E R   F O R   P U P P E T R Y  Arts
Thanks to Damon and Aretta we met the rest of the Staff, actually Damon, who thought I was Benny the bear (we just had a workshop making a bear puppet), LOL, introduced me, Benny Tratta, to Aretta, the Education Director, and from there on it took highest flights.  Aretta was so motivating and assertive with what she was telling and showing me, I was surprised and amazed with the entire reception and situation.  After she introduced me to the rest of the team, Aretta quickly went to her desk and browsed in her computer for a publication she thought it might be of special interest for the kind of work I do, information that appears in Puppetry International, the official publication of UNIMA-USA, Inc.  This issue, # 28, dates back to the fall and winter of 2010, its title, North America the beautiful. 

A little More of the story
There is a lot of important detailed information on the puppetry movement in these wonderful pages but for the purpose of our work, there are three very good articles.  The first one is about “illegal immigration, on stage…” and “An overview of puppet theatre in Puerto Rico, past, present and future” by Manuel A. Morán Martínez, Ph.D.  Sr. Morán appears on the cover of this issue which makes me very happy and proud, having his work recognized and published, as a native from Puerto Rico, it was very good for me to hear the great news about a dedicated person from my country.  The other article is about “The phenomenon of adult puppetry in Puerto Rico” by Deborah Hunt, a New Zealander dedicated artist, based in Puerto Rico since 1990.
  
What’s in the articles
In his first article Sr. Morán writes a one-man children’s theatre piece, ¡Viva Pinocho!  A Mexican Pinocchio, an adaptation of the famous classic story, ‘The adventures of Pinocchio’, (1883) by Carlo Collodi (1826-1890).  The play addresses illegal immigration through the narration of a young Mexican boy, “a theme not often broached with our children and youth”.  Morán who does most of his theatre and education work in New York City says, “New York is an archetype of a city made up by immigrants”.  In his piece he narrates and dramatizes the predicament of the illegal Mexican immigrant in the U.S.  “I decided to update Pinocchio, since childhood I have been attached to this classic story about a boy puppet that wanted to become human”, in 1983 Sr. Morán interpreted the role for the school theatre in his home town, Vega Baja, Puerto Rico. 

A little note
Actually reading and writing for this post makes me even prouder because I just found out that Sr. Morán and I have a lot more in common - we  share the same hometown, the little town of VEGA BAJA in the northeast coast of Puerto Rico where we can enjoy the Atlantic Ocean and beautiful beaches.  After all, it’s a SMALL WORLD.
   
As Morán said “Pinocchio’s story is in many ways analogous to the immigrant experience.  Pinocchio was a wooden puppet that aspired to be more; he wanted to be a boy, looking for a place where ‘dreams come true’.  Such original traits led me to ‘latinize’ the story, relating it to current themes and contextualizing it in the new environment of the Hispano-American immigrant”.  ¡Viva Pinocho! is about a puppet boy’s journey, about his own understanding of himself while struggling to maintain his Latino heritage and find his home in a new land; the United States.

      
For an ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION, 
this was out of this WORLD, being this a SMALL WORLD after all.  
To Aretta and the rest of the team at C E N T E R   F O R   P U P P E T R Y  Arts: 
I hope to see you all soon.  I know there is the (r)evolution Puppet Festival coming up at the beginning of August, 2013 in PA.  I will contact you and share any thoughts on the matter.  Also, I will be contacting Sr. Manuel Morán Martínez soon; I have a trip planned to New York City.  I hope you enjoyed the memories as we are doing back home.  
*We would like to hear from all of you and will appreciate any comments on our blog.  Thank you, we appreciate everything you did for us.  

N. Benedict Tratta-‘BENN-Y-TRATTA’-‘COME AND TRY’, not Benny the bear for this one, LOL …

To all of you, STANZA's followers 
‘A todos ustedes seguidores de STANZA’ 
Un intenso abrazo, reconociendo que en tan poco tiempo hemos cruzado enormes distancias,  tierras y océanos.  Continuamos contando con su apoyo, dedicación y participación en este nuestro espacio.  Muy pronto nos embarcaremos en una nueva travesía para compartirla con todos ustedes.  Los llevo en mi corazón, el que hoy late y vibra con más fuerzas que nunca.  Hasta nuestro próximo encuentro.     N. Benny Tratta/apóstol