The motivation for my project is twofold: First, I wanted to push my artistic boundaries by creating puppets with simple materials (cardboard, fabric and light) and telling a story solely through movement and music.  It made sense to me that puppetry (especially Bunraku) is already like ballet, in that human movement is used to bring the characters and a story to life.  I wanted to further develop that connection by blurring the line between performer and puppet. By reducing a story to its visual elements, the focus is not on what is said, but on what is emoted through the puppets’ movements, accented by the musical score and stage lighting. This creates puppet theatre with universal appeal: freed from the constraint of understanding language, the puppets’ movements themselves can share a narrative with international audiences.

Second, with performances of this ballet, I want to create awareness around the role that pain (darkness) plays in the growth and transformation of people.  So many times, the focus of dealing with dark episodes in our lives is to avoid dealing with them: to cover up, ignore, or dismiss the painful experiences, when really, true growth and maturity can only arise from confronting the darkness (and what causes it) head on.  Peter | The Wolf  was born from my battle with depression. It can be a metaphor for others dealing with a number of life experiences.