I know, I have been pretty slack lately with writing on my blog. Last year around this time the Dedes were extremely busy having their Super Dede competition. This year they are moping about in their dark cupboard. Due to dramatic changes in my work life I am currently preoccupied with research. I have to re-invent myself yet again. The more research I do, the more I am convinced that I want to stay with puppetry in the future. The other day, I had to laugh when I read in a book by Kenneth Gross called “Puppets” what puppeteer Michael Vogel said. He said that once, while working on a piece based on Baudelaire’s Paris Spleen, he felt many old, unused puppets in his studio asking for a chance for new work. Always, he said, even when he could not use them, “I try to be polite, so they are not annoyed or frustrated.” (p 76). I had to read this out loud to the Dedes. They shouldn’t get too precious, other puppets have problems too!
Personally, I am busy with heaps of stuff, but I am terribly superstitious. I don’t want to talk about half-baked things. I strongly believe if I talk prematurely, they don’t work out. But I can tell you, I will be really happy when 2013 is finally over. It was such a crap year, it can only get better next year :). My puppetry workshop has finally been announced in the Term 1 programme of Artstation. So if you are living in Auckland and want to know more about puppets: Do enrol! (grrrrrr, I hate blatant self-promotion). However, I need to get enough enrolments for the course to take place. I am definitely looking forward to it. Unfortunately puppetry is not very big in New Zealand.
The puppet in the picture is another project I can now start talking about. It is the prototype for the main character in a short film (a very short film, but longer than the flash dramas the Dedes usually do). The film is a collaboration between a therapist in Australia, a playwright in England and myself. An interesting way to work, it all happens by email and it’s working very well. We have submitted the film to a conference that will take place in April. So there is a definite deadline and it is a lovely project to escape the Christmas blues.
dedepuppets 
I do know about the “Dede World” – while my introduction (as you may remember?) was not through puppets but through my beautiful dog. He was my dede – I wonder if that word taps into something? You have such a wonderful sense of things. I think your class will fill up with people who want to understand the joy you feel and the special spirit of the dede puppets. You are magic – that is beyond all ordinary measures!
Wish I was there – a dede lover,
Elephant
Oh thank you so much Elephant. I am blown away by your wonderful words.
A sincere Dede Thanks from this part of the world.
Always a dede fan!
Elephant
All the best to the new project,
Juergen
Thanks Juergen.
It sounds like you are working on something that engages you..can’t wait to see it when you roll it out.
It is an interesting project and it keeps me busy. It is different in that it is the first puppet film with a serious content, which adds an additional layer. One has to tread more carefully.