Small Children Dance with Large Animals on St. Frances Day

[Jody Kruskal]

Small Children Dance with Large Animals - Saint Frances of Assisi has been the patron saint of animals since the 13th century. Every year in early October, this Brooklyn congregation brings their pets: dogs, cats, rats and turtles to be blessed by the priests of The Church of the Holy Apostles. Then the animal party begins... lead by musician Jody Kruskal on concertina and featuring master puppeteer Ralph Lee’s fanciful costumed animal characters.

 

Ralph Lee and Casey Compton built these masked puppets for their Mettawee River Company production of “The Bremen Town Musicians”, a German fairy tale from the Brothers Grimm; originally staged in 1980. Since then, Mettawee has repurposed these characters for the feast of St. Frances Day, celebrating the "blessing of the animals" annually for decades in New York City.

 

This year in 2024 the Mettawee animals were brought to life again by: Merlin Whitehawk - Mr. Dog, Kristina Clark - Miss Kitty, Doug Schrashun - Mr. Rooster, Sharon Mack - Miss Donkey, Rob McFadyen - Mr. Bunny, Tanya Dougherty - Mrs. Bunny. The last bit of this video features a montage of photos from our 2008 show at The Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in Manhattan.

 

2024 Video: Nora McGloin 2008 Photography: Henry Chapin.

 

 

 

Edited December 1, 2024 by Jody Kruskal

[David Colpitts]

Jody, this is a blast!  Thanks for sharing.

[wunks]

Children's songs, play party, skip rope....Ice Cream, Ice Cream, Cherry on Top!  How many Boy Friends do you Got!.....😊

[Jody Kruskal]

Have?

[wunks]

7 minutes ago, Jody Kruskal said:

Have?

Not around here ( boondocks ).  We're a sophisticated lot ('till we grow up ).  An internal rhyme and a bit of poetic licence am good enough!