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Sculptural Creativity and Repair at Walt Disney World
The puppeteers working for Disney are eager to share their work and accomplishments with other puppeteers, so the creative staff working on puppetry at Disney is offering a special workshop for people attending the Tampa Festival.

On Saturday July 14 or Sunday July 15, you are invited to a 2-hour workshop about the creation, building, maintenance and repair of the large puppets used in parades at Epcot.  At the conclusion of the workshop, participants will see the backstage area where the parade commences.  This lecture demonstration workshop, which is a very rare opportunity to see the inner workings of a Disney event, is for intermediate and advanced level puppeteers.

The Disney puppeteers have worked very closely with Michael Curry, whose talk at the Seattle festival was inspirational.    His work with Julie Taymor is well known,a nd his giant puppets were featured in the Time’s Square, New York City celebration of 2000, as well as the Super Bowl.   His creations for the Disney Millennium Parade are now part of the parade called a Tapestry of Nations at Epcot Center. A representative from Michael Curry’s studio (or the man himself, if we are lucky) will be one of the workshop leaders, along with Disney World Puppet Specialist, Jeff Conover.

The workshop will be offered twice. Enrollment is limited to a very generous, 100 participants for each workshop. Participants will be responsible to pay for transportation to Orlando, which is about an hour and a half away by car (or more if you walk).  The festival staff is currently searching for prices of a roundtrip group rate for buses.

In addition to the workshops, Disney is offering discounted admission to its parks on the following basis:

• One day admission (one property) $38.00, regular rate is $49.76.

• Three day admission (not available at check-in) $82.00

• Four day admission $98, regular rate $186.50

These discount rates to Disney attractions are available to everyone attending the Puppeteers of America festival and not limited to just those who register for the workshop at Epcot.  There are inexpensive motel accommodations near the Disney parks.

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