May Day Parade and Festival

Each year, In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre work with their community to create a May Day Parade and festival to celebrate nature and its power. Our important relationship with nature is acknowledged as large puppets loom above, symbolically representing Prairie, Sky, River, Woods, Tree of Life and the Sun. Sandy Spieler and her team of artists guide the community to find their own images and create puppets and masks to tell their own stories. The video explores the history of the parade, and features interviews with Ms. Spieler and some of the many volunteers that make the festival possible. Lessons guide students in learning about the myths of Native American cultures, making their own masks, and modeling their own parade and festival using the elements from this celebration. This unit is rooted in the universal themes of Transformation, The Power of Nature and Enduring Values.

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