Changes: Betsy Bird

Revision as of 12:33, 22 July 2014

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Betsy Bird is a full-body dancing bird who was created especially for dancer Betsy Baytos.

She appeared in The Muppet Show episode 505, performing "The Varsity Drag" and "Bird Walk." Jim Henson puppeteered the character's head in some closeups, while Baytos provided the dancing, voice and choreography.

Although Henson felt the performance itself was wonderful, the costume's material seemed to hide Baytos' eccentric dance movements, instead of emphasizing them. While Betsy's movements are perhaps nothing extraordinary for a Muppet, for a human dancer it's an impressive performance.

Betsy Bird was also successfully featured during the Muppets' first 'live' performance at the Kennedy Center in Washington, in a pas de deux, backed by flying seagulls. This was later aired on PBS as Here Come the Puppets!

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{performer|Betsy Baytos}}
-[[Image:Betsybird.jpg|thumb|300px|Behind-the-scenes with Betsy.]]
+[[Image:BETSY-BIRD-150.jpg|thumb|300px|]]
 {{designer|[[Michael Frith]]|designer|[[Caroly Wilcox]], [[Cheryl Blaylock]]|builders}}
-'''Betsy Bird''' was a full-body dancing bird who was created especially for dancer Betsy Baytos.
+'''Betsy Bird''' is a full-body dancing [[Birds|bird]] who was created especially for dancer [[Betsy Baytos]].
-She appeared in ''[[The Muppet Show]]'' [[Episode 505: James Coburn|episode 505]] with James Coburn, performing "[[The Varsity Drag]]" and "[[Bird Walk]]."
+She appeared in ''The Muppet Show'' [[Episode 505: James Coburn|episode 505]], performing "[[The Varsity Drag]]" and "[[Bird Walk]]." [[Jim Henson]] puppeteered the character's head in some closeups, while Baytos provided the dancing, voice and choreography.
-Although Jim Henson felt the performance itself was wonderful in its extreme, the costume's material seemed to hide Betsy Baytos' eccentric dancing movements, instead of emphasizing them. Baytos herself felt somewhat restricted by the costume and the time constraints of the production schedule. While Betsy's movements are perhaps nothing extraordinary for a Muppet, for a human dancer it's an impressive performance.
+Although Henson felt the performance itself was wonderful, the costume's material seemed to hide Baytos' eccentric dance movements, instead of emphasizing them. While Betsy's movements are perhaps nothing extraordinary for a Muppet, for a human dancer it's an impressive performance.
-Betsy Bird was also successfully featured during the 'Muppets first 'live' performance at the Kennedy Center in Washington, in a ''pas de deus'', backed by flying seagulls.
-Although Betsy Bird was used only once on the show, Betsy continued to puppeteer on the show during season five. Betsy Bird can also be seen dancing on stage in [[Here Come the Puppets!]]
+Betsy Bird was also successfully featured during the Muppets' first 'live' performance at the Kennedy Center in Washington, in a ''pas de deux'', backed by flying seagulls. This was later aired on [[PBS]] as ''[[Here Come the Puppets!]]''
+<gallery orientation=landscape spacing=small widths=120>
+James Coburn TL-5.jpeg
+James Coburn TL-4.jpeg
+James Coburn TL-2.jpeg
+James Coburn TL-3.jpeg
+James Coburn TL-1.jpeg
+James Coburn TL.jpeg
+</gallery>
+<gallery orientation="portrait" spacing="small" widths="210">
+betsy bird.jpg
+Betsybird.jpg
+MS_4335_betseybird.jpg
+Betsybirdsketch.jpg
+Betsy Baytos suiting up.jpg
+Carolywilcox.jpg
+herecomepuppets1.jpeg
+</gallery>
 ==See also==
 * [[Michael K. Frith Sketches]]
+* [http://comedyforanimators.com/2012/11/11/guest-post-betsy-baytos-on-dance-in-animation/ Dance in Animation]
+* [http://www.henson.com/jimsredbook/2012/12/12241979/ Big Red Book]
 [[Category:Muppet Show Characters]]
 [[Category:Muppet Characters]]