May 2, 2015: Birthday STRUT!

A very happy 65th birthday for me! I marched around the Capital in my giant jaguar costume with Heather and Jim by my side.

The parade itself was the culmination of a semester with artist-in-residence Laura Anderson Barbata from Mexico City and New York City. She worked all semester with UW students, community organizations and performers, and brought in the Brooklyn Jumbies as teachers and the featured stilt walkers in the parade.

The Brooklyn Jumbies and local stilt walkers.
I was amazed at the number of circus groups in the Madison area.

After the parade I danced with the giant chicken puppet!

Costume off; meeting other STRUT participants.

Back in costume, walking to the post STRUT event at The Edgewater.
Little kids were amazed.

The Giant Jaguar Costume

I began construction two weeks before the parade. I attended a giant puppet-making workshop at the Madison Children's Museum and came with a photo of a jaguar hoping to learn how to make a giant puppet. I knew nothing about the process, but was determined to participate in the unique community performance parade on my birthday.

Laurie (head of the art room at the museum) got the ball rolling, helping to shape the head from strips of cardboard and Shikah and I continued to assemble the head and then add the paper maché. I went home with a damp white head and instructions for creating the frame and costume to complete the giant puppet.

Note the form in back of the jaguar head. That's how we constructed the form.
Then we added strips of paper and tape for a smoother surface.

This is what it looked like when I brought it home.

The final piece just before the parade with me on the left and Shikha on the right.
She helped me power through the paper maché process.

I threw myself into the project taking up every available space in my home and basement. As the head dried I worked on the frame construction using my old backpack frame, pvc tubing, bamboo polls, and zip ties.

My old backpack frame repurposed for my costume.

PVC construction inside the head to hold the bamboo poles.

What it looked like on the outside before I covered it with more paper maché.

The skeleton.
The shoulders and arms are constructed from pipe insulation and hinged with zip ties.

Testing the frame. Too high. I lowered it about 1 1/2 feet.
(Note, the head does not have it's jaw.)

Next came the costume made from an old bed sheet and a remnant of jaguar fleece. The mesh for my face is from an old laundry bag for delicate items.

Test day in the neighborhood.

Decided the sheet was too plain. Back to the paint brushes and a couple other minor adjustments.

Once the front was painted I was a little more disguised.
The red string in front of my face goes up to the head mount and makes the jaw open and close.

Meanwhile, I kept working on the head, mixing paints, finding styrafoam eyes, buying "pipe cleaners" for whiskers. Then, I needed to construct the jaw and devise a mechanism for opening and closing the mouth. It all came together . . . not easily or pretty, but pretty darn close.

The why of it all:

I've been a little surprised at the number of people who ask me why I did it? It was fun! I loved problem-solving the costume and creating my giant jaguar. But, the story does go back further for those interested in the history.

In April of 2013 Chiripa was invited to Eric and Elsa's wedding in Oaxaca, Mexico. Jim and I went and spent time doing tourist things in Oaxaca (as well as a little buying for Chiripa which was still open). We visited the Textile Museum where the featured exhibit was the costumes from Laura Anderson Barbata's community actions with The Brooklyn Jumbies. It was breathtaking! So, when I found out that Laura was coming to Madison I tuned in and attended lectures and presentations when I could. When I heard that they had picked May 2nd as the day for the big finale of the semester and that the community was invited to participate I knew my fate was sealed. What better way to spend my 65th Birthday!

Thank you Laura and the three Brooklyn Jumbies who were here.

Laura Anderson Barbata getting ready to STRUT!

The Brooklyn Jumbies pre-STRUT!

Thank you Laurie Rossbach at the Madison Children's Museum for encouraging my enthusiasm and for creating the zebra head template. Thank you Heather and Jim for being my handlers (in zebra costume, no less). And thanks to Doris, Karen, and Greg for photographing the parade and the time before and after it.

It was a very special day.

My annual birthday/newspaper/flower photo seems a bit tame compared to STRUT!