What a remarkable city! It is rare to find a city in the world like Jerusalem where just by crossing the street you can skip from the the modern life of the 21st century and then to the Old City where it is almost like stepping into a time machine. Jerusalem decisively shapes part of the world we live in! I was honored to even be a part of it and perform in The International Festival of Puppet Theater Jerusalem 2011!
WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF PUPPETS IN JERUSALEM
The first day I arrived with great excitement! It was the 25th anniversary of The International Festival of Puppet Theater Jerusalem and the 30th anniversary of the Train Theater: the company that produces the festival. We were welcomed by Dalia Yaffe Maayan, Director General of the Train Association and Artistic Director, and Eduardo Hubscher who is in charge of Festival Direction and Production. It was also wonderful to see Damiet van Dalsum the Director of a puppetry festival in Holland where we performed last year. She is a pioneer in the field of puppetry and a great supporter.
The opening ceremonies began in the large Amphitheater at the Liberty Bell Garden. Teatro Hugo & Ines from Peru performed to welcome the puppeteers and jump start the festival! It truly is a small puppetry world, Hugo & Ines were just in NYC performing last year! It was a pleasure to be able to see Hugo perform his amazing characters that express poetic moments of everyday life. I had heard so much about him and I didn't get a chance to see him perform in NYC and I was captivated by his every move!
One of the best experiences about being part of a festival is having the opportunity to see shows! There is so much to see and often times it is difficult to choose, but Spica and I were not disappointed! The festival invites companies from all over the world allowing the audience to be exposed to the wide and enriching variety of Puppet Theater shows from Israel and across the globe. This year's theme was paper: White paper, smooth paper and Paper creates a story. Here are some of the shows that we saw:
A Touch of Light
Patricia O'Donovan
The Train Theater
Israel
A show based on the life story of Louis Braille. It combined the use of shadow puppetry, paper and object manipulation. It was a touching story that used the materials of books: paper, ink and pencils. Patricia is a fantastic storyteller and she clearly expresses the emotions of love, desire and humor to convey this journey.
Hands Up!
The Netherlands
This show is coming to the New Victory Theater! We met Leo Peterson before the show and told him we were teaching artists from the theater. He is very funny, kind and a fantastic performer. The sequence of funny short scenes were a joy to watch not only for the story and entertainment value, but also for the puppeteer's amazing skill level. We were laughing and on the edge of our seats the entire time!
Watch the Birdie
Slovenia
Teatro Papelito
What an inspiration! The puppeteer, using the scissors in front of the spectators, created flexible animated paper creatures. The show is performed non verbally and it is all simply creative play. We had the opportunity to create one of the paper puppets after the show. This show definitely lends its self to a great post workshop.
Little Red Rolling Ball
Germany
Eva Kaufmann
Less really is more! This piece was very simple in nature, but brought a character's life into focus. It was the story of a little red ball that is living the life of perpetual change as it grows up, dances, makes friends, and has a fantastic journey. It paralleled a day in the life of its audience members that were between the ages of two and eight. Eva Kaufmann, who took the great challenge of being the solo performer, was a true delight!
Far Over the Sea
The Train Theater
Israel
A touching story set in Tel Aviv about an old suitcase that is found, in it a little hut, in the little hut a cellar, in the cellar an old book: Bialik's poems for children. Shahar Marom's gentle performance quality invites the children into the story and brings Bialik's known and forgotten poems to life through old objects, puppets and original music and still capturing the essence of Tel Aviv.
The Three Musketeers
The Czech Republic
Alfa Theatre
A grotesque hand puppet show of the story of the group of four, whose motto was "all for one, and one for all!" The performance was filled with action, comedy and live songs on the stage. The show has been in existance for at least 7 years and it was very telling by the puppeteer's skills and comedic timing. I was laughing the entire hour!
A CHANCE SHADOW
Spica and I performed in a cabaret evening called PAPER MOON. The evening was in honor of our friend Mrs. Damiet van Dalsum, Director of the Internationaal Poopentheater Festival Dordrecht, The Netherlands. The evening was composed of our piece, A Chance Shadow, and Hanaleh's Sabbath Dress from Israel.
The night was outdoors on a raised stage where
there was a little bit of wind, which served as a challenge for the screens that were made out of rice paper. Spica, as always, is brilliant and created a contraption that made the screens stick to the floor. Tape is an amazing invention and despite the wind, we had two great shows thanks to all the support and hard work from the incredible staff!
THE FESTIVAL THROUGH THE EYES OF A CHILD
Some of the most important audience members of the festival are the children, and they were out and about in abundance. It seemed like everywhere you looked children were laughing, playing, making puppets,
jumping with clowns, playing in fountains and walking the streets of the city! The events for children were in abundance and they were having a marvelous time!
If you happen to be passing by a park across the street from the French Consulate in Jerusalem you might hear a wolf howl and children's laughter! "What might be happening?" you may ask. Why none other than a walking tour! The tour was for children ages 4 and up called WHERE IS MRS. GABBAI? Produced by the Train Theater of Israel. 
The entire production was in Hebrew, but one did not have to understand the language to get the essance of the story. When I first arrived for the show there was not a child in sight: 
Fifteen minutes later, this is what the park looked like:
The setting for the street theater performance was the childhood neighborhood of Jack Shvili and took place in the alleys of Yemin Moshe. The children were very much a part of the performance. The two actors Jack Shvili with Avraham Cohen combine acting, puppets' manipulation, songs and stories in a unique and original theater piece. The actors were constantly asking the children questions and giving them the opportunity to play and imagine their neighborhood in a new creative way. Very often children were asked to roll down a hill, sing songs, listen to the trees and just play!
They took such joy and curiosity in being part of the performance. Even though I couldn't understand the language, the smile on a child's face is universal! 
There were surprises around every corner...we didn't know what was going to happen next! The experience was a show and also a history lesson. If I hadn't gone on the walking tour, I might not have seen these parts of the city.
Music was played all along the journey and it was magical when the children recognized a song and would suddenly sing in unison with the actors. I felt at times like a fly on the wall observing two performances...the actors and the children. It emphasized for me the importance of creative play and audience interaction when it comes to experiential learning with this age group. It was an AMAZING experience! :)
They took such joy and curiosity in being part of the performance. Even though I couldn't understand the language, the smile on a child's face is universal! 
There were surprises around every corner...we didn't know what was going to happen next! The experience was a show and also a history lesson. If I hadn't gone on the walking tour, I might not have seen these parts of the city.
Music was played all along the journey and it was magical when the children recognized a song and would suddenly sing in unison with the actors. I felt at times like a fly on the wall observing two performances...the actors and the children. It emphasized for me the importance of creative play and audience interaction when it comes to experiential learning with this age group. It was an AMAZING experience! :)
THE OLD CITY
Spica, John and I woke up at 6:00AM in the morning to greet the gates of the Old City. It was so early that we could even see a hint of the moon in the distance.
The old city is a melting pot of languages, cultures and faiths. What is incredible about this place is that you don't have to be religious to appreciate the extensive history of the surroundings; it is an awe inspiring experience for everyone. We entered the city through one of the gates. During the era of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, there were four gates to the Old City, one on each side. Today, the Old City walls contain 43 surveillance towers and 11 gates, seven of which are presently open. The current walls of the Old City were built in 1538 by the Muslim Ottoman Empire and the Turkish Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. The walls stretch for about 2.8 miles and rise to about 16 to 49 feet with a thickness of ten feet.
When I entered the city I was immediately met by the smell of spices and different vendors selling a plethora of items. 
The colors from the shopping vendors' stores seemed to stretch down every stoned street alley way. 
There are four sections in the Old City: The Christian Quarter, Jewish Quarter, Muslim Quarter and the Armenian Quarter.
Spica and I had a mission that we were very excited to fulfill. Our first stop was the Western Wall to deposit a prayer for a dear friend of ours back in New York City in the Jewish Quarter. The Western Wall marks the remains of the external retaining wall of the Second Temple, destroyed in 70 CE, this site is considered the most sacred in Judaism and is the most visited site in Jerusalem. Everyone is invited to put a prayer in the cracks and that is exactly what Spica and I did!
We then decided to explore the city a bit more by going down narrow alley ways and following them to the top of the city. We passed homes and even came upon a soccer field!
We slowly headed down and found ourselves in the bustling markets of the Muslim Quarter. It is the largest and most vibrant of the quarters and The Souq (Market) has endless alleyways that are lined with shops selling everything from jewelry and clothes to hookahs and ceramics. Spica and I couldn't help ourselves and we had to buy a pair of pants. 
We followed the Via Dolorosa which includes the 14 stations through which Jesus passed while carrying the cross. The path ends at The Church of the Holy Sepulchre which claims to stand on the land where Jesus was crucified, buried and resurrected. The awe inspiring building dates back to the 12th Century.
We tried to go into the garden where the Dome of the Rock is located, but it was closed. Thankfully it is visible throughout different view points in the city.
It is one of the holiest sites in Islam and it is built over a rock which is believed by Muslims to be the place where Mohammed rose to heaven. It is the oldest Islamic monument standing today.
On our way out we came upon the room where the Last Supper took place.
The Room of the Last Supper is located directly above the Tomb of David on Mount Zion. Although this is not the original room, it is believed that it stands over or near the original site.
We had a difficult time trying to find an exit, but thanks to a generous man who was standing near the bathroom he pointed us in the right direction out a back door. We came upon a very steep hill going downward that headed out of the city towards our guest house. You cannot see everything in one day, and we only had a few hours. I knew that some day, I had to go back.
THE DEAD SEA
The Dead Sea is about a 40 minute drive from Jerusalem. We woke up at 5:30AM to arrive early so it wouldn't be as hot and to beat the crowds. It is one of the world's most natural wonders and is the lowest point of dry land on earth. The sea salt is said to have medicinal value. It is called the Dead Sea because its salinity prevents the existence of any life forms in the lake. It is said that the Queen of Sheba was the first to believe in the mystical healing powers of the water and then Cleopatra traveled from Egypt to build the world's first spa there.
In order to get to the sea we had to take a tractor.
It was very hot and dry near the Dead Sea, but since it was early no one else was on the beach! We had the beach to ourselves!
We realized very quickly that the water was very warm and the sea floor was not covered in sand, but covered in a very sharp layer of salt!
We found it impossible to walk on the sea floor barefoot without cutting our feet so we wore our shoes. We entered the sea and pretty soon it was apparent that this was no ordinary water. I lifted my legs up and they quickly bobbed up to the surface.
I could hold my head and hands above water without even treading water. I imagined that it was almost like walking on the moon. We were not permitted to submerge our heads in the water because the salt from the water would burn our eyes. I put a drop of the water in my mouth and it was the saltiest thing I had ever tasted! By the time it was 10:30AM it was time to head back to Jerusalem. Thankfully we had just beat all of the tour buses that were headed towards the beach. We left feeling completely refreshed and like new!
AN EVENING IN TEL AVIV
The last night we were in Israel we took an trip to Tel Aviv to have dinner and see a show. The city is the second most populous city in Israel. Tel Aviv has the second-largest economy in the Middle East, and is the 19th most expensive city in the world. We visited a park that had an outdoor library where children can check out books and beside the library children were running around and playing soccer. There is a large immigrant population in Tel Aviv, and because of that the library contains books of different languages for children from all over the world to read.
We then had a five shared course meal with wine and dessert. It was so delightful to be sitting with these incredible artists and managers of puppetry festivals from all over the world while eating the most incredible dishes.
The meal lasted over two hours talking about the future of puppetry and the state of the world.
Our next stop was a small 30 seat theatre where we saw an object puppetry piece for adults performed by Shahar Marom .
It was the perfect way to end our time in Israel.
Saying Goodbye: TODA JERUSALEM
I feel so grateful to have participated in this festival and had the opportunity to see such a culturally inspiring city as Jerusalem. This festival has allowed a space for inspiring dialogue and a cultural bridge between the local artist and colleagues from abroad.
