On Saturday, February 19, the Bagley Area Arts Collaborative worked with the students at Bagley Elementary to produce a puppet pageant, where students learned how to walk on stilts and producing a story.

The project for this pageant was originally supposed to take place in June of 2020, just as the COVID-19 pandemic was underway.

Co-director and narrator Julie Boada found a traditional Ojibwe tale called “Nanaboozhoo and the Woodpecker.” Boada shared that what’s great about puppetry is that it has many different aspects for each student to have their moment – whether they’re a visual artist, a natural performer, or learning something they’ve never learned before.

Many would agree that you can’t have a play with without some good music to dance to. Playing music together for 45 years, folk music artists Curtis Teague and Loretta Simonet from the Twin Cities were kind enough to provide music.

Bagley Area Arts Collaborative Treasurer and Grant Writer Janet Brademan said that she is very thankful for the grants that made this pageant possible for the Bagley school.

For anyone that may have missed the pageant this last weekend, the Bagley Area Arts Collaborative has shared photos and videos on their Facebook page.

By — Emma Hudziak