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CITATION OF EXCELLENCE AWARD WINNERS 2010
An unprecedented number of shows were awarded Unima-USA's prestigious Citation of Excellence Award this year. 18 awards in the live performance and recorded media categories were handed out by Marianne Tucker, Unima-USA's Citation Committee Chair, at a ceremony during the Puppeteers of America's Southeast Regional recently held in Wilmington, NC. Winners included several former citation recipients, including Jon Ludwig at The Center for Puppetry Arts, Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia and Basil Twist. First time winners included Teatro Sea and Mallory Lewis, Shari Lewis' daughter. The first YouTube video award went to Steve Whitmire and The Muppet Studio for their "Ode to Joy" video. Other shows in the recorded media category included two commercial films- The Fantastic Mr. Fox and Coraline. For a complete listing and comments from review panelists, visit our Citations of Excellence Awards page or our virtual Souvenir Book. You can also visit our Photo Gallery for a close-up look at all the winning productions. The Citations of Excellence has been awarded annually since 1975 recognizing and rewarding the best of the puppetry arts in this country.

OUT OF THE BOX PUPPET FESTIVAL
The Out The Box Festival of Puppetry & Visual Performance will be held March 26 - April 3, 2011 in Cape Town, South Africa . Puppeteers, Theatre Makers, Artists, Choreographers and travelers of the imagination are invited to this festival of performances, workshops, talks, exhibitions and films that includes both adult and family programs. Apply now. Deadline for application: August 31. [MORE]

WORKSHOPS IN PORTUGAL
CAMa - Centro de Artes da Marioneta in partnership with Museu da Marioneta is conducting International workshops aimed at professionals selected on the basis of their curriculum and experience. Enrollment is international and, due to the selection of the teachers and participants, brings together several artistic fields, to allow the meeting between puppetry and other arts. Workshops include:
THE ACTOR AND THE OBJECT directed by Agnès Limbos – Cie Gare Centrale (BE) Object theatre is a theatre without wings, that uses metaphor, symbolism and suggestion to tell a story. September 20-24th
Application Deadline: September 10.
For more information:
CAMa – Centro de Artes da Marioneta
A Tarumba – Teatro de Marionetas
Convento das Bernardas – R. da Esperança, 152
1200-660 Lisboa Portugal
Tel.+Fax: +351 212 427 621
ruteribeiro@tarumba.org | raquelmonteiro@tarumba.org

CHIANG MAI PUPPETRY PROGRAM
The Chiang Mai Puppetry Program is a four-week program conducted Dec 09-Jan 11, at the Empty Space Arts Center located just outside of Chiang Mai, Thailand. Each year, one or two Masters, selected from the wide range of Asian puppetry forms will be in residence to work with U.S. students on story-telling, construction, manipulation and performance techniques. Examples might include Masters of wayang golek from Java, water puppets from Vietnam, nang kaloung from Cambodia, hun laung from Thailand, pu-tai-hsi from China, or yoke thay from Burma. [MORE]

CALL FOR PAPERS - SUBOTICA, SERBIA
Subotica International Festival of Children's Theatres is preparing the third session of the International Research College of Theatre Arts. International Research College of Theatre Arts is a five-year project conceived by Professor Henryk Jurkowski (Poland). The third session will be held within the framework of the 18th International Festival of Children's Theatres in Subotica, Serbia between May 15-21, 2011. Download the Call for Papers and please forward this notification to anyone you think might be interested in participating. [DOWNLOAD PDF- CALL FOR PAPERS]

PUPPETRY TRAINING AT UK'S CENTRAL SCHOOL
Central School of Speech and Drama in London offers a 3 year puppetry program featuring a diverse range of training and development opportunities. The course connects students to British and international puppetry companies through work placements and collaborative projects. Term dates for this course for the coming academic year are October 11 - December 17, January 17 - March 25, May 3 - July 8. [MORE]

SHANGHAI INTERNATIONAL PUPPET FESTIVAL
The 2nd “Golden Magnolia” Shanghai International Puppet Festival & Competition will be held in Shanghai from October 11th to 15th. This Festival will be a celebration for puppeteers from all over the world. Awards will be presented.

WORLD FESTIVAL OF PUPPETS THEATRES
The 16th World Festival of Puppets Theatres will be held at Charleville-Mezieres, Ardennes, France September 16-25, 2011. This festival will mark the 50th anniversary of Charleville-Mezieres. Companies who want to apply can obtain an application form from the festival's website. Deadline for applications is August 31. [MORE]

LA MAMA PUPPET SERIES IN NEW YORK CITY
This fall "Built to Perform," the latest La MaMa's annual puppet program, will premiere five adult puppet theater productions and remount a popular children's attraction. The series will open with the latest work by Italy's Dario D'Ambrosi (Pathological Theater), "Bong Bong Bong against the Walls, Ting Ting Ting in our Heads," from October 14 thru October 31. There will be two works from Poland presented in association with The Polish Cultural Institute, "Chopin-An Impression" by Bialystok Puppet Theatre October 21 to November 7 and "Broken Nails A Marlene Dietrich Dialogue" by Wiczy Theatre from November 12 to 21. From Brooklyn comes "Wake Up, You're Dead," directed and designed by Aaron Haskell, October 29 to November 7. The family and children's puppet theater attraction will be "Folktales of Asia and Africa" by Jane Catherine Shaw October 23 to November 7. The festival will conclude with "In Retrospect" by LOCO7 Dance Puppet Theatre Company, directed, choreographed and designed by Colombia-born Federico Restrepo with music composed by Elizabeth Swados, November 11 to 28. [MORE ]

"WAR HORSE" IN USA SEEKS PUPPETEERS
Lincoln Center Theater is seeking puppeteers for its upcoming production of "War Horse," which it will produce at the Vivian Beaumont Theater in New York with The National Theatre of Great Britain, whose critically acclaimed production has been running in London to great success.The puppeteers will need to be good actors and versatile stage performers with experience of working in an ensemble and with adult audiences. They will have to be dedicated puppeteers with an emphasis on subtlety and fine detail. A high level of physical fitness, endurance and strength is essential for these roles. Send picture and resume and/or bio. In addition to your professional
experience. Make sure to list/describe all training. Also, note your height, note if you speak any French or German (this is* not* a requirement, but useful information) and if you have any proficiency with specific musical instruments (again,* not* a requirement). Performers are employed under an Actors Equity Association LORT A+ contract.
Rehearsals: 1/20/2011 (approx)
Previews: 3/17/2011
Opens: 4/14/2011
Information should be sent to:
War Horse Casting
Lincoln Center Theater
150 W. 65th Street*
New York, NY 10023
Or emailed to: warhorsecasting@lct.org

PUPPETRY & POST DRAMATIC PERFORMANCE
An international conference on performing objects in the 21st century will be held at the University of Connecticut, Storrs, April 1-3, 2011. This conference seeks to explore new approaches to critical thinking and theorizing about puppetry and performing objects of all kinds and to bring new multidisciplinary views to bear on the subject of puppetry—conceived in the broadest terms—in order to enrich, expand, and enliven the field of discourse.
Deadline for Proposals: October 1st. [MORE]

THE WORLD ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PUPPETRY ARTS
It 's 2 1/4" thick and weighs nearly 4 kilos (9 pounds) with 864 pages, all in French. There are 506 plates (10" x 11 3/4").
The book was proposed in 1978, revived in 1995 and published in November 2009. There were 39 editors and fact checkers, 9 translators and 234 contributing authors. Amazon France lists it at 76 Euros but that's without shipping. With shipping to the USA, it could cost approximately133 Euros, about $200. [MORE]

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