Lunar New Year — also referred to as Chinese New Year or the Spring Festival (chunjie 春节), as Korean New Year (Seol Lal 설날) and Tết in Vietnamese culture — marks the coming of spring and the planting, harvests and new beginnings it brings.

Join puppetry artist Jana Zeller with Sandglass Theater to learn the basics of shadow puppetry. Using items from home, we'll create a shadow box stage and two-dimensional puppets and animate them on a screen. In the spirit of the Year of the Ox, Jana will show us how to create ox shadow puppets inspired by Chinese visual art techniques. When we're finished, you'll have everything you need to stage your own tiny Lunar New Year puppetry production.

This workshop is best suited for youth ages 7 and up, but children as young as 5 can participate with adult assistance. 

Registration for this workshop is free, but families will need to provide their own materials, which include:
 

• A cereal box (16oz or bigger)
• A small piece of thin recycled cardboard
• One sheet of white printer paper
• A wooden skewer or wire
• Tape (masking tape preferred, but scotch tape will also work)
• White glue
• Pencil
• Markers 
• Scissors

About Sandglass Theater

Sandglass is dedicated to the arts of theater and puppetry as means of exploring contemporary issues, inspiring dialogue, and sparking wonder. The company creates original ensemble performances and collaborations, presents diverse theater artists, and teaches their art. Since 1982, the company's productions have toured internationally in nearly 30 countries, performing in theaters, festivals and cultural institutions and winning numerous international prizes. Sandglass Theater produces works for both adult audiences and young audiences and leads workshops, residencies and a 2-week intensive training program each summer.

This workshop is programmed as part of the Hop's series of events celebrating Lunar New Year. 
 
HopStops are funded in part by the Melville 1960 and Leila Straus Arts Education Fund, Wetzel Family Fund for the Dartmouth College Arts Education Program, Jeffrey C. Bloomberg 1969 Arts Education Endowment Fund, Jennifer '85 & Stanton '83 Williams Fund, L. William 1943 and Sarah B. Seidman Fund, Anonymous Fund No. 127, and the Edward and Bertha C. Rose Fund.

Photo courtesy of the artists