The local Ann Arbor-Ypsilanti area is home to a heaping handful of talented puppeteers and a diverse array of artists doing work that crosses over into the world of puppetry. Local puppeteers and fans give their take on the puppet scene and share a list of venues, events, and performers they like.

Adults can find anything from family-friendly puppet shows, to cultured theatrical performances, to R-rated puppetry entertainment nearby. One thing the local puppet scene proves is that the art form isn’t only for the children.

The art of puppetry encompasses countless world traditions and genres. Ask an Ann Arbor-Ypsilanti area puppeteer to describe its breadth and expect a long list in return — from shadow puppets and marionettes to many forms of kinetic sculpture and performance art that toe the line between genres.

A new puppeteer in town would do well to check out the Dreamland Theater in downtown Ypsilanti. Area puppeteers identify it as a major anchor. The theater hosts puppet shows, art, performances, and bands throughout the year. They hold weekly Sunday afternoon puppet shows for kids and puppet classes that fascinate the young ones; however, Dreamland’s more grown-up events give the place an edge.

One of theater owner and puppeteer Naia Venturi’s favorite events is “Puppetry in the Alley,” a recurring event that showcases puppeteers outside in the alley way and inside the Dreamland Theater. She thinks the event “is a great opportunity for puppeteers to present their work, and I encourage anyone that is interested in performing at this year’s “Puppetry in the Alley” in August 2011 to contact me at dreamlandtheater@gmail.com.”

FLY Children’s Art Center founder and artist Ruth Marks, who teaches puppetry classes and other types of art classes to kids, says that her favorite Dreamland Theater event is their monthly live talk show “Dreamland Tonight” hosted by a puppet version of Ypsilanti blogger Mark Maynard.

“When he has a guest on, there is this spicy blend of humor and seriousness that would not be possible with a live interviewer. When he was interviewing Mayor Schrieber, there was quite a bit of joking, but then when he asked him a serious question, the room got so quiet, and you could hear everyone almost holding their breath to hear the answer. It was amazing,” she says.

Several puppeteers and fans list Patrick Elkins as a favorite. The puppeteer, musician, and events coordinator has hosted puppetry at his Totally Awesome Fest parties. The next installment of the multi-venue art and music festival is scheduled for April. Elkins has performed at the Dreamland Theater and other venues on numerous occasions, including several “24 hour puppet shows” he collaborated with Venturi.

Carrie Morris (Elkins’ wife) is a talented puppeteer and performance artists who studied Indonesian shadow puppetry on a 2007-2008 Fulbright grant. Her productions, which are inspired by numerous traditions and contemporary artists, employ multimedia like video clips, which Morris says “serves to reveal aspects of their narrative that change its meaning.”

Morris points out that being in close proximity to Detroit is a plus for Ann Arbor-Ypsilanti puppeteers. “This past year, I have been seeing and performing more in Detroit, which has puppet-centric venues like PuppetART Detroit Puppet Theater. They host performances in styles ranging from Eastern European marionettes, to South American rod puppets, to African mask puppets,” she reports. She also likes “the Matrix Theater and events like “Le Marche du Nain Rouge,” a parade inspired by carnival and dedicated to banishing a small red dwarf, which is said to terrorize Detroit,” Morris says.

The Detroit Institute of Arts recently opened a new permanent puppet gallery displaying puppets from the museum’s Paul McPharlin Puppetry Collection, in December 2010.

In addition to puppet anchors like the Dreamland Theater and puppetry venues in Detroit, many other local venues occasionally hold puppetry events or performances. Puppeteers and puppet fans have enjoyed shows at places like The Yellow Barn, Arbor Vitae loft, the Power Center and the Wild Swan Theater, in Ann Arbor, and the Riverside Arts Center in Ypsilanti, among other spaces.

The annual Saline Harvest of the Arts Oktoberfest celebration in September includes the Bixby Puppetry Festival, which features puppet shows and workshops fit for the whole family. The event is named after Meredith Bixby, a local Saline puppeteer who toured his marionette shows around the Midwest during a long career — he retired in 1982. The Saline District Library has some of Bixby’s marionettes on display that you can visit.

Puppeteers and fans identify Ann Arbor’s annual parade, FestiFools, as another local anchor in the world of puppetry. FestiFools creative director Mark Tucker is flattered, yet he doesn’t personally classify the pieces that people make for the parade as “puppets,” per se.

“I think of them more as three-dimensional animated sculptures. I see them as pieces of public art that are moving and interacting with the crowd. Of course, it’s easier to say ‘giant puppets’ because people ... know what you’re talking about,” Tucker laughs.

Anyone can participate in the community-based parade. From now until the next FestiFools, which will happen on April 3 from 4-5 p.m., anyone who is interested in helping make FestiFools puppets can join open studio sessions at various times during the weekends leading up to the parade. Visit FestiFools' website for a full schedule and more information.

FestiFools is also debuting a brand new processional event this year, called “FoolMoon,” which will happen between dusk and midnight on April Fool’s Day.

“It’s going to be a procession of people starting from various points around downtown about a mile away and ending up downtown. People in the procession will have light weight, ephemeral tissue paper and wire pieces that are lit from the inside with little LED lights so they look like luminaries,” Tucker says. Workantile Exchange will open up its space for people to come learn how to make aquatic themed luminaries, on the four Sundays leading up to "FoolMoon" from 10 a.m to 5 p.m., or you can view a video about how to make one yourself.