Your parents may have entertained you with simple puppets when you were a child or perhaps you fell in love with the story of Pinocchio, the puppet who wished he was a little boy. The art of puppetry has existed for centuries as a means of passing along stories, culture and for entertaining people of all ages. Thanks to schools around the world, you can try some puppetry of your own and share this joyful art with others.
One such school, Juniper Tree School of Story and Puppetry Arts, is located on Vancouver Island, B.C. Programs include part-time courses which are spread out over the summer, or full-time six week apprenticeship/training certifications. While both the part-time and full-time courses teach students how to use puppetry for educational, therapeutic, and artistic purposes, the full-time apprenticeship allows for a deeper concentration. Students learn how to develop stories specific for their audiences; to understand the psychology of storytelling and puppetry and how they can be used for healing and to explore the human condition; and they learn how to create their own puppets and stages. Puppets ranging from felted finger puppets all the way to more complex rod marionettes are studied and created by the student.
The school also offers a variety of workshops and professional development courses including the Art of Therapeutic Puppetry, as well as weekend events for puppet lovers. Courses are held at the Vancouver campus and in cities throughout the West and Southwest U.S.
