They sing. They dance. They demonstrate clean energy. Shadow puppets and creative movement will be the focal points of an interactive and educational program about clean energy at 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 20 at the Louisville Public Library, 951 Spruce Street.
The CU at the Library program called, “Shadow Puppets for Clean Energy Education in the Navajo Nation,” is free and open to the public. Appropriate for all ages, the event invites children in particular and will feature songs by Grammy-winner Tom Wasinger.
Beth Osnes, University of Colorado Boulder professor of theatre and dance, and children in the Roots and Shoots Group from University Hill Elementary will lead the program using solar-powered shadow puppets to illustrate clean energy.
Osnes directs a related clean energy project in the Navajo Nation where, in collaboration with local leaders and schools, the project aims to develop entrepreneurial models of sustainable electricity and business to the tribal nation. More than 18,000 rural families are without access to electricity in the Navajo Nation and residents often rely on kerosene lanterns for light. The project promotes distribution of solar lights and engages local youth using a solar-power-lit puppet shows. The Navajo youth contribute stories and content to the puppet shows, and they play an important role in the project’s educational mission. Participants in the CU at the Library program will play central roles in the puppet play on Oct. 20 as well.
“’I use interactive theatre to work with people in the Navajo Nation and elsewhere to raise awareness and explore how various alternative energy distribution models can work on the ground,” Osnes said. “The library program will be a lot of fun… We will involve our audience in getting an embodied experience of various forms of energy.”
Part of a series called CU at the Library, the Oct. 20 program is jointly sponsored by the Louisville Public Library and the CU-Boulder Office for University Outreach. It is one of many public programs offered through CU-Boulder partnerships with local libraries. For more information about CU at the Library, visit http://conted.colorado.edu/library/.
-CU-Boulder Office for University Outreach-