Puppetry lesson #1: Breath

Welcome to our first lesson! We'll start of with some basic exercises and throughout the coming lessons we'll turn it up a notch.

Enjoy!

With love,

Pluck & Noufri (Studio Figur)

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Breath:

One of the most beautiful human qualities is that we mirror the person whom we are in contact with. Even babies do it before birth; their heartbeats and body functions take on their mothers’ rhythm. However, we don’t only mirror the body, we also unconsciously focus on the breath. One of the most important points in puppetry is therefore to give the puppet an audible and visible breath.

People are programmed to see consciousness in things even when something is not alive. That’s why we can mirror ourselves with puppets / objects on a stage. If, as a puppeteer, you don't let the breath be heard or seen, then the spectator holds his breath. At some point it’s so disturbing that the spectators subconsciously distance themselves from what they see and the connection with the imagination / puppet is broken.

The breath of the puppet is also an important way of communicating with the audience. With different kinds of breathing you can communicate the different moods and thoughts of the puppet. In this video we'll start with some of the exercises to connect your breath as a puppeteer to the breath of the puppet. Good luck!