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THERE was giddy chatter and nervous anticipation backstage at the Chief Sepass
theatre in late June, as students from Langley’s Blacklock Elementary Fine Arts School prepared for their year-end show.
‘One Toy, and a Variety of Other Things from the Toy Box’ featured a range of drama and dance presentations. One of the highlights was a
set of performances featuring puppets created by the children themselves.
Under the guidance of Trinity Western University (TWU) assistant professor of
fine arts and theatre Claire Goodfellow, and Blacklock teacher and TWU alumna
Angela Mitchell, grade 5 students from the I-Pod, intermediate classes, spent
two weeks making puppets for the evening performance. One class created
marionettes for characters from C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and the other focused their efforts on hand puppets for a show dealing with
the theme of peer pressure.
Jordan De Jesus created a marionette puppet called ‘Dwarf,’ with which he performed in ‘News in Narnia’ a puppet show based on the Lewis book.
Describing the creation of Dwarf, De Jesus said: “I got the wood part, and then I started to paint it. I then made him a belt,
gave him a hat, and then got some cotton to make him a beard – and then I covered his feet in black fabric.”
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Asked what he liked best about the project De Jesus said: “I liked the whole thing, especially shredding the cotton and putting on the
beard.” Dwarf’s new home will be on the top shelf in the boy’s room.
When asked what it was like to work with the children at Blacklock, Goodfellow
exclaimed: “It was so fun and exhilarating! They are 10 year old kids. It’s such a cool age, as they still have a wonderful sense of play – but at the same time, can talk about things on a deeper level.”
– Erin Mussolum
September 2009
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