Annie Katsura Rollins is a 30-year-old artist with a puppet fascination. Not in a creepy Lady Elaine Fairchilde sort of way. More like the magical X the Owl or Daniel the Striped Tiger tradition.
Rollins' demeanor is nurturing as she pushes her students in a creative direction with kindness, understanding and love.
She likes her little puppeteers just the way they are.
"With kids, puppetry is limitless," she says. "That limitless is ever fascinating."
Rollins is the coordinator and puppet master of the New York Mills Regional Cultural Center's Puppet Pageant, which debuts Friday at 6 p.m., in downtown New York Mills. The pageant features stories from the Kalevala in conjunction with the annual New York Mills Corn Feed.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Kalevala is a book and epic poem, which Elias L'nnrot compiled from Finnish and Karelian folklore in the 19th century. It is held to be the national epic of Finland and is traditionally thought of as one of the most significant works of Finnish literature.
Rollins' students have been working diligently for two weeks on large-scale puppets that will walk Centennial Drive in Mills the night of the performance.
Rollins grew up in Minneapolis, where she currently works in theatre design with puppetry as her main focus. She graduated with a Master of Fine Arts degree this spring from the University of Minnesota.
"Because I'm such a practical woman, I went into puppetry," she says tongue in cheek, with a sense of humor her students adore.
The feeling is mutual.
This is the third year she has coordinated the Puppet Pageant and it has come a long way from her first attempt two summers ago.
"Our first attempt a couple years ago was fun and crazy at the same time."
Between 10 and 12 kids from New York Mills have helped make her vision a reality in the last two weeks.
ADVERTISEMENT
"They are incredibly skilled," she says. "They're more capable than we give them credit for. Because of the inclusive atmosphere, they rise to the occasion."
Rollins' and the kids have been constructing the puppets out of household, recycled materials including paint, string, fabric, and paper mache.
Ideally, Rollins and the kids would like to have three or four months to complete a project and production this size. But it's in her nature to do what she can, while she can, with what she has.
"A lot of glue sticks," she laughs. "A lot of glue sticks."
Needless to say, when the giant puppets march through Mills on Friday, it will surely be a beautiful day in the neighborhood.
