9000 Paper Balloons

CONTEMPORARY PUPPET THEATER

Friday, October 28, 7:30 pm ET – Followed by a MetLife Meet-the-Artists Reception
Saturday, October 29, 7:30 pm ET – Followed by an artist Q&A
Sunday, October 30, 3 pm ET

Inspired by Imperial Japan’s stranger-than-fiction secret weapons that floated over America during World War II, 9000 Paper Balloons is a poetic and eerie performance that examines distance—the distance between two friends, between two enemies, two cultures and two generations. New York-based Japanese artist Maiko Kikuchi and American puppeteer Spencer Lott blend puppetry, animation and masks as they weave their own family histories into a surreal and visually stunning collage that speaks to the past and the future.

Tickets: $30 / $24 members

Maiko Kikuchi	Spencer Lott

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9000 Paper Balloons © Courtesy of the artists; Maiko Kikuchi © Jared Thompson; Spencer Lott © Sub/urban Photography.

9000 Paper Balloons is supported by a grant from the Association of Performing Arts Professionals, made possible through support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and The Jim Henson Foundation. The development of 900 Paper Balloons is supported by The Jim Henson Foundation; a Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant; the American Theater for Puppetry Arts; and Heather Henson and the Henson Carriage House. This work was commissioned and developed through the HERE Artist Residency Program (HARP), 2017-2021, and premiered digitally in November 2021.

2022-23 Performing Arts Season Support
Lead Sponsor

The season is made possible, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

Major support is generously provided by the Howard Gilman Foundation and Doug and Teresa Peterson. Endowment support is provided by the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Endowment Fund and the Endowment for the Performing Arts, established with a leadership gift from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

Additional support is provided by Dr. and Mrs. Carl F. Taeusch II, Dr. Jeanette C. Takamura, Estate of Alan M. Suhonen, Susan McCormac, Nancy and Joe Walker, Dr. John K. Gillespie, Paula S. Lawrence, Dr. Stephen and Mrs. Michiko Levine, Hiroko Onoyama, Lyndley and Samuel Schwab, Sarah Billinghurst Solomon and Howard Solomon, and Nora and David Tezanos. Transportation assistance is provided by All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd. Yamaha is the official piano provider of Japan Society. MetLife Meet-the-Artists Reception is provided by MetLife Foundation.

Japan Society programs are made possible by leadership support from Booth Ferris Foundation and Shiseido Americas.