Anarosa the Mariposa; a tale of true love

We thought this story would be a sweet one for the month of February and presented it as a puppet show, since love was in the air and all. Giving this tale a yogic twist we encourage you to look on your relationships and frame them with self love. In reflecting on your relationship with yourself you will learn to love yourself and in kind learn to love others more fully. 

future storyteller

Puppetry is an oral art form similar to storytelling, a valuable means to build oral language skills. It is an entertaining way to introduce children to literature, bringing folktales to life. Both children and adults enjoy a live performance and the puppeteers have a good time too! Children learn the elements of a story, the beginning, middle and the end, preparing them for both reading and writing. 

A puppet craft completes our presentation inspiring children to explore their new found skills as storytellers and puppeteers. 

future puppeteer

Anarosa the Mariposa is our adaptation of Martina the Beautiful Cockroach, a Cuban folktale retold by Carmen Agra Deedy. It explores family relationship and culture as well as romantic relationship. Anarosa has been raised by a loving family and is ready for marriage. She must choose between several suitors while being courted under the watchful eyes of her family. She is reluctant to follow the shocking advice given from her grandmother but out of love and respect does so anyway. Which leads us to the story's sweet surprise of an ending. 

Probably the biggest struggle in life is the struggle to know and accept ourselves. Unlike Anarosa, many of us were raised by parents who were not taught to see their own worth. Therefore they were unable to teach us that we too are worthy. Family face all sorts of challenges and these stresses wear on us making our closest relationships difficult. So what can we do?

We can become more mindful of our thoughts, words, and deeds. Those stories we tell ourselves. We can change our stories. We can change how we think about ourselves. We can learn to accept ourselves. In order to truly unite with others we must first unite with ourselves. This is our yoga, this is our practice. And as we open our hearts to ourselves we become more open and compassionate with our loved ones as well as others.

Ahhh peace and love, what a sweet combination. 

Kathe and Melanie; puppeteers