Mask & Movement Playshop

Aretta Baumgartner

90 Minute Session - 25 Person Max
See Description below for Materials Fees

  • Workshop Information
  • Presenter Information
  • Workshop Notes

"The fact that the mask gives you something to hide behind makes it unnecessary for you to hide...because you are in safety, you can go into danger. All theatre is based on that." ~Peter
Brook, director.

We'll explore economy of movement, awareness of space/fellow players, and the organization of our bodies to reflect thought and character as we move gently into the world of the neutral (universal) mask. These experiences will strengthen the expressivity of every puppet artist. Please bring $5 if you'd like to keep your mask.

Aretta Baumgartner is a performer/teaching artist specializing in puppetry, mask and movement. Though she currently calls Cincinnati, Ohio, "home," she's traveled nationally and internationally to share her passions. A recent Great Lakes Regional Director of the Puppeteers of America, Aretta is also the Artistic Director of ImagineNation, a core actor and Education/Outreach Coordinator for the artists' collaborative known as Performance Gallery, and a vocalist for the Steely Dan tribute band AJA. She's been on the winning end of 5 Cincinnati Entertainment Awards and in the cast of 2 "Acclaim Award" productions, and is the recipient of the "Applause Applause Award" from the Puppeteers of America.

Favorite performance projects include Equus with New Edgecliff Theatre, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels with the Carnegie Center for the Arts and La Comedia Theatre, The Lord of the Rings stage trilogy with Ovation and Clear Stage theatre companies, Caroline, or Change with New Stage Collective and Fiction with The Drama Workshop. Aretta is a Teaching Artist for Cincinnati's Tony-Award winning Playhouse in the Park, the Cincinnati Arts Association, the Overture Academy and the School for Creative and Performing Arts. She's also a member of the Association of Theatre Movement Educators, the Cincinnati Area Puppetry Guild, the Educational Theatre Association, the Puppeteers of America and the Union Internationale de la Marionette-USA. In July 2011, Aretta will proudly step into the position of
Education Director at the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta, GA.

Click here to download notes from the Workshop.

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