Katy Williams is used to having to explain her work.
鈥淚鈥檒l tell people I鈥檓 a puppeteer and they鈥檙e like, 鈥極h, so like The Muppets?鈥欌€� Williams said. 鈥淎nd I鈥檓 like, 鈥榊es -- but no.鈥欌€�
Because what Williams does is so much more than felted fabric.
鈥淵ou get to create life out of nothing,鈥� said Williams, who owns the puppetry, prop and stage design company Katy Williams Design. 鈥淲hen I ask kids -- or even adults -- what it means to animate something and to bring it to life, it really takes a minute for people to think about that because I think we take [鈥 breathing and being able to walk for granted.鈥�
For Williams -- who focuses on life-sized, hyper-realistic puppetry -- the best feeling is getting the audience to do a double-take on one of her works.
鈥淚 just think it鈥檚 this cool form of magic that is very ancient, but people haven鈥檛 really tapped into,鈥� she said.
That鈥檚 why Williams is organizing Denver鈥檚 inaugural Rocky Mountain Puppet Slam.
So, what鈥檚 a puppet slam?
鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of similar to a poetry slam,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou have a couple acts -- each one has several minutes to present a piece of work.鈥�
While some slams are competitive, Williams said she wanted this first event to be more of an introduction to Denver鈥檚 growing puppetry scene that includes , which recently produced Death Goes on Strike. The puppet-based opera is based on (The Emperor of Atlantis), which was written by Viktor Ullmann and Peter Kien during their last days in a Nazi concentration camp.
To help audiences understand more about the broad array of styles of puppetry, as well as the engineering and artistry behind it, there will be a puppet lab before and after the slam.
鈥淚 want to take away this wall of -- 鈥楶uppets are creepy鈥� or 鈥業 don鈥檛 understand puppets,鈥� or whatever their misconceptions are,鈥� Williams said.
Eventually, she hopes to expand the slam to three events a year, including adult events -- like this inaugural one at Syntax Physic Opera -- as well children鈥檚 and other themed slams. She hopes these events will inspire people to look more closely at puppetry and maybe even try their hand at it.
Her first real exploration of puppetry came from a high school production of , Williams said.
鈥淚 started to realize that I really loved this art form because not only do you get to be on stage -- which as a kid I just loved -- but you also get to bring something else to life,鈥� she said. 鈥淪uddenly, your performance wasn鈥檛 about you.鈥�
The first will be held on March 24, 2018, 6 p.m., at the Syntax Physic Opera, Denver.
