Hobey Ford's Golden Rod Puppets

Hobey Ford's Golden Rod Puppets

Hobey Ford is known for excellence in puppetry performance and craft. His intricate shadow puppetry work and creation of the original rod puppets, the “Foamies”, have earned him a place on stages across the world. Hobey is a two-time winner of puppetry’s highest honor, the UNIMA Citation of Excellence, and recipient of three Jim Henson Foundation grants. He utilizes his artistic study at The State University of New York at Purchase and the University of North Carolina at Asheville to design and construct all of his Golden Rod Puppets and the beautiful sets that surround them. Hobey also draws on his early experiences growing up in coastal Connecticut or living in a Nevada Native American community in writing the scripts for some of his performances. For nearly thirty years, Hobey has widely toured his Golden Rod Puppets. Last spring Hobey was in Manama, Bahrain at the Spring of Culture Festival.  He has performed at the Puppeteers of America Festival in Atlanta, & the International Festival in NC as well as numerous international children’s festivals in North America.  His educational programs have taken him into schools across the country.  In the past 3 years, in addition to his school performances, he has performed in performing arts centers including the Kennedy Center and Wolf Trap in DC, Playhouse in the Park in OH, Irving Arts in TX, LA Music Center in CA.  Hobey has also performed in numerous libraries and taught at teacher institutes in many states.

Hobey’s performances incorporate a variety of puppetry styles-Bunraku, rod, marionettes, “Foamies” & shadow puppetry. Hobey adapts folk tales from various cultures for many of his shows & always adds a special “Golden Rod” twist. He uses his own voice to create characters & sound effects, tell stories & sing.

EDUCATOR CONTACT INFO

susan@loydartists.com

http://loydartists.com/

  Loyd Artists, 16 Santo Lane, Au Sable Forks, NY 12912

Essex

518-647-5916

Student Performances with Hobey Ford's Golden Rod Puppets

Program description

Hobey Ford tours a repertoire of performances for preschool to upper elementary students based on stories adapted from various cultures as well as nature and incorporating a variety of puppetry styles:  Bunraku, rod, marionettes, “Foamies” and shadow puppetry.

SEA SONG (K-5th; Audience Max 250)  – SEA SONG is the story of a boy’s discovery of the natural world at the seaside. This production follows the life cycle of the sea turtle and the fragile interwoven environment of animals living at the edge of the land and the sea. Sea Song is performed in the style of Ford’s Animalia series featuring his beautiful carved foam animals performed in full view of the audience as well as Hobey’s creative shadow puppets.

ANIMALIA (PreK-5th; Audience Max 500) – ANIMALIA explores the world of animals through movement, music and visually stunning puppetry. Breaking out of the traditional puppet theater booth, Hobey turns the whole theater into his performance stage. The performance includes a magnified look at butterfly and frog metamorphosis, the world of birds and a classic undersea ballet of whales, frolicking dolphins and otters. Students will witness the magic of beautiful, animated, carved foam puppets, each one a work of art. In creating these “Foamies,” Hobey carefully studies each animal’s characteristic movements and designs control mechanisms to make the puppets move in a life-like manner.

MIGRATION (K-5th; Audience Max 250-300) – MIGRATION is the story of Beatriz, a girl who journeys with her family from her home near Mexico City to the United States. In this production, Hobey Ford turns to the natural world of animals to explore the wonders of the migration of a variety of animals and birds as they are learned through the eyes of a child making her own migratory journey. Hobey’s “Foamies” are performed behind a projection of original animated scenes, taking the audience along with Beatriz on the journey of these incredible creatures. Hobey performs in full view as storyteller, puppeteer & animator in a seamless and almost hypnotic dance between the puppeteer, puppets & original artistic scenery.

WORLD TALES (K-5th; Audience Max 300) – A collection of stories and puppetry techniques from around the world including an Aesop fable, a Native American story and an African story.  The puppetry techniques include Bunraku from Japan, shadow puppetry from Asia, rod puppetry from Indonesia, and Hobey’s own Foamies puppets and Peepers puppets. During the show Hobey takes time to explore and explain his unique process of puppet craftsmanship through the hilarious antics of “Chester the Dog.” The performance comes to a finale with Hobey’s famous carved foam creatures, “The Foamies”.

THE RAINBOW BRIDGE AND OTHER TALES – 2010 UNIMA Citation of Excellence (K-5th; Audience Max 300) – Hobey brings to life with shadow puppetry three folktales from different cultures: “The Rainbow Bridge,”  “El Coqui” and “The Three Billy Goats Gruff”, with a finale of his Peepers Puppet, which turn the bare hand into a myriad of creatures and his famous beautifully carved foam animal creatures he calls the Foamies.

“The Rainbow Bridge” is a Native American folktale of the Chumash, a tribe who inhabited the southern coastal regions of California. “El Coqui” is a Puerto Rican folktale about how the little tree frog got his song. ‘The Three Billy Goats’ revisits this classic Nordic tale with humor and issues of the day.

Booking / scheduling contact

Susan Lounsbury, Loyd Artists

   518-647-5916

 susan@loydartists.com

Program detail
Artistic discipline: Literary Arts, Multi-discipline, Multi-media, Puppetry, Storytelling, Theater, Visual Arts
Cultural Origin: American, European, Latino, Multicultural, Native American
Program type: Assembly/Performance, Virtual/Online Program
Population served: Grade 1, Grade 2, Grade 3, Grade 4, Grade 5, Grade 6, Kindergarten, Pre-K
Subject: Language Arts, Science, Theatre Arts, Visual Arts
Bilingual: No
Available dates:

Available year round

Available times:

Flexible

Length of program: 45-50 minutes
Space / technical requirements:

Electrical outlet near stage; 110 volts with drop cords, 60 to 90 minutes to set-up; Clear, clean performance area 20′ wide x 15′ deep x 12′ high; no audience sharply to the sides or behind the performance area; Some performances require a darkened room. Hobey will provide all sound.

Location(s):

Schools, libraries, performing arts centers, theaters

Fees / Ticketing:

$650 for one performance when in area and $600 per performance for multiple performances in same school on same day

EDUCATION STANDARDS

NC Standard Course of Study:

R7 = Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.   R6 = Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.   SL2 = Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.   L3 = Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening.

NC Essential Standards:

From the Arts Education, Theatre Arts K-8 Standards:   K-8.C.2 = Use performance to communicate ideas and feelings.   K-8.A.1 = Analyze literary texts and performances.   From the Social Studies 3-5 Standards:   3.C.1 = Understand how diverse cultures are visible in local and regional communities.     From the Science 3-5 Standards:   5.L.2 = Understand the interdependence of plants and animals with their ecosystem.