Jorge PÇrez-G¢mez is realizing a goal this week.
The UNM music professor has brought Teatro Tinglado, a Mexican puppeteer company, to campus for a series of workshops and performances set to the music of composer Silvestre Revueltas.
PÇrez-G¢mez, who is also the director of UNM's Symphony Orchestra, has been researching the music of Revueltas for years. These events are the result of PÇrez-G¢mez's collaboration with Pablo Cueto, Mexican puppeteer and director of Teatro Tinglado.
PÇrez-G¢mez said he's proud to have the puppeteers at UNM because the group is "one of the most important puppet companies in Mexico City."
The production will feature four stories geared toward children and adult audiences told by five puppeteers. Their puppets vary in color and style and are made of cloth and wood.
"Sensemay†," which translates roughly to "a chant for killing a snake," is based on a Cuban poem by Nicholas GuillÇn. "The Adventurous Tadpole," based on the work of Colombian poet Rafael Pombo, is about a tadpole whose mother warns him about danger in the outside world. A puppeteer uses a green tadpole puppet with large eyes to tell the story.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
"The Dwarf King of Uxmal" is about the Mayan city and the legend of a baby who becomes king. The baby proves his nobility when he plays a golden instrument that no one else in the land has been able to play. Several beautiful puppets with colorful clothing and hats are used to tell the story.
This is the U.S. premiere of the fourth story, "Troka el Poderoso," the tale of a robot created by German List-Arzubide, a Mexican writer. The robot is used to help children understand the benefits of technology. As the narrative progresses, the large robot puppet is constructed on stage using flat wooden representations of trains, tools, planes and machinery.
In the 1930s Troka told stories about contemporary machines. Now the robot puppet is used to educate children about computers and communication, PÇrez-G¢mez said.
These stories are pulled together through the narration of a puppet that was made to resemble composer Revueltas.
"We are able to combine elements of music, theatre and the culture of Mexico," PÇrez-G¢mez said.
He is currently working with multi-media specialist Hue Walker Bumgarner-Kirby who runs the Digital Pueblo Project at UNM. This project will give students the opportunity to work on an animation of "Troka el Poderoso" that will be performed in conjunction with an orchestra.
"Revueltas loved children and he believed that adults can teach concepts better with puppets because children relate more to them," PÇrez-G¢mez said.
Several Albuquerque Public Schools have been invited to special performances Thursday and Friday.
This week's events include free puppet workshops and a lecture about Revueltas' music Thursday in Keller Hall at 12:30 p.m.
Finally, the UNM Orchestra will give three performances with the Teatro Tinglado puppeteers at the end of the week.
The event was organized and financially sponsored by Tobias Duran of the Center for Regional Studies; Steve Loza, director of the Arts of the Americas Institute; Steve Block, chairman of the Music Department; and Joaqu°n Garrido, director of the Instituto Cervantes in Albuquerque.
The Who, When and Where
Who: The UNM Orchestra with Teatro Tinglado
When: Thursday and Friday at 9 a.m., Friday at 7 p.m.
Price: $7 adults, $5 students, $3 children
Where: Kellar Hall
Tickets and info: 277-2131
The Who, When and Where
Who: Workshops
When: Today at 9:30 a.m., tomorrow at 9 a.m.
Price: Free
Where: Theatre X
Tickets and info: 277-2286
