People

Marilena Triantafyllidou

Actress, director and singing teacher

Marilena is co-founder and artistic director of Artika Theatre Company. As an actress, she has worked in Greece and abroad. As a director, she has focused in creating theatre performances for young audiences. Finally she has been teaching modern singing and voice coaching since 2004.

Katerina Alexaki

Practitioner, educator and facilitator

Katerina Alexaki is a theater practitioner, educator and facilitator. She is the co founder of Artika theater company and a member of Eclipses Group Theater N.Y.
She performed and directed in various places in Athens and New York. She worked as a nursery and PreK teacher in the Academy of Hellenic Paideia in NY and she is the founder of the Butterfly Project, a self exploration laboratory.
She is an MA candidate of Applied Theater program at S.P.S. CUNY and a M.Ed. at the City College, CUNY.
She is the recipient of a European Community Grant, May & Samuel Usadi scholarship as well as Bertram L. Joseph Graduate Studies Scholarship Award.
A proud mother of twin girls, she lives in New York and Athens.

Vasilis Kazis

Actor, musician, composer and songwriter

Vasilis has given many live concerts around Greece as a guitarist and a singer and he has composed the music for various theatrical performances. He is a member of Artika Theatre Company since 2014 when he first wrote the music for the performance ‘Goodnight Day’. For the last two years he is performing as a musician, actor and composer at one of the latest performances of Artika called “Something like a garden”.

Kleoniki Karachaliou

Actress, dancer, music and movement teacher

Kleoniki was born in Athens in 1981. She studied acting in Athens (Greece) and classical Indian dance in Greece, France and India. She teaches educational drama and music-movement at pre-schools. Since 2016 she is an active member of Artika Theatre Company, participating in theatrical performances for infants (1-5 years old).

Päivi Aura

Artistic director and choreographer

Päivi Aura is Dance Theatre Auraco’s founder and artistic director. She has a long and extensive experience in many different fields of dance and related subjects. Päivi is one of the first Finnish theatre makers for the very young audiences. After many years of freelance work, she founded Dance Theatre Auraco in 2006. She is the project manager in charge of Mapping for the company.

Kati Lehtola

Dancer-mime and communicator

Kati is one of the founders Auraco. After having studied dance in France, she also studied pantomime and mime in Germany and since then (2015) has been actively working in this field creating new performances and collaborating with mime artists both in Europe and Finland. She is one of the few mime teachers in Finland. Kati also works as an administrator and a secretary of the company.

Veera Lamberg

Dancer and administrator

Veera graduated from Trinity Laban, London (BA (Hons) Dance Theatre) and University of Helsinki (MA in theatre studies). She has worked as a freelancer since 2008 and joined Auraco in 2019. In 2018 she was a resident artist of the city of Helsinki and worked with children e.g. in kindergartens. She also teaches and is a president of the Union of the Finnish Dance and Circus Artists.

Aislinn O’hEocha

Executive Artistic Director

Aislinn joined Baboró in a new role as Executive Artistic Director in 2015. She oversees all areas of the organisation, in particular the programming of the annual festival in October each year. Aislinn’s passion for children’s work began in 2001 when she worked with Baboró as Venue Manager of the Town Hall Theatre. She built up extensive programming, management and marketing experience whilst Artistic Director of The Source Arts Centre, Co. Tipperary and General Manager of glór, Co. Clare.

Jennifer Ahern

Producer

A native of Co. Limerick, Jennifer first encountered Baboró when she helped out as a festival volunteer. She has worked with Baboró since 2012, first as Festival Administrator, then as Acting General Manager before being appointed to the newly established role of Producer in 2016. Jennifer is a member of Baboró’s core team with responsibility for producing the festival, liaising with visiting companies and overseeing funding applications for the festival and Baboró’s work throughout the year.

Marc Mac Lochlainn

Artistic Director

Marc Mac Lochlainn is the Executive Artistic Director of Branar Téatar do Pháistí, which he founded in 2001. Branar has developed and presented over 18 productions and delivered workshops with thousands of children.  Branar tour work to venues and festivals locally, nationally and internationally. They support artists to make work for young audiences through tailored programmes of resource sharing and ‘Tiny Show’ creation. Branar create opportunities for children to explore their own arts practice in school settings.

Gertien Bergstra

Artistic coordinator

After completing her education as a professional dancer in an apprenticeship at Cie Résonance in France in 1993, Gertien’s first encounter to performances for children came in The Hague when she worked for a company called Pandora. In September 1994 she joined de Stilte, that had just started making dance productions. She has stayed ever since, assisting in the foundation of the company as a structurally based developer of performances for children. In 2008, after a 15-year dance career, she took her first steps towards choreography together with Femke Somerwil in a production called “Glad IJs” and several dance duets. Since 2009 they are both responsible for the repertory as rehearsal directors and artistic coordinators.

Femke Somerwil

Artistic coordinator

After her studies at the Fontys dance academy (1996) Femke had the possibility to work with de Stilte. A company that focuses on making danced performances for a young audience, using only body language. In the early years Femke was together with Gertien Bergstra one of the first dancers of the company. This experience was very helpful when in 2008 she changed from dancer to rehearsal director, and coordinator of educational projects. Having a distance towards the stage gave her a lot more knowledge on the What, How and When in a performance. In the recent years she explored the creative, choreographic process together with Gertien Bergstra.

Kaïa Vercammen

Dancer
Kaïa, born in Belgium in 1990, received her education as professional dancer in Tilburg (Netherlands). She has danced with the Internationaal Danstheater in several productions for children.
In January 2013 she joined de Stilte and since then has danced all over the world in Alice (6+), Flying Cow (4+) and the early years choreography Hihahuttenbouwers (2+). Her devotion to the young ones is turned to account in the imaginative way she guides them towards dancing skills in projects that involve teaching dance.

Barbara Kölling

Artistic director

Barbara is director, founder and artistic director of HELIOS Theater. Her work is characterized by international and interdisciplinary collaboration with artists from the fields of drama and puppetry, music and composition, visual arts, choreography and dance.

Michael Lurse

Artistic director

Founder and artistic director of HELIOS Theater. Trained in puppetry, he works as a performer, author, director and set designer. The focus of his interest is the work with puppets, objects and materials.

Philippa Heidenreich

Project Manager
Philippa was already working joyfully in the cultural sector before she studied cultural management.
Since she finished her master’s program in 2020, she is working as an organizer and project manager at HELIOS Theater.

Andra Mihaela Burcă

Choreographer

Andra Burcă studied Coreography and Theatre Pedagogy at the National University of Theatre I. L. Caragiale. She started colaborated in theatre performances for early years in 2016 as choreographer, director and performer. She colaborated in productions with Ion Creangă Theatre (Sleepy pillow, One meter away for you, Memories in a suitcase, In my size), Guliver Theatre (Hand in Hand) and La Baracca-Testoni Ragazzi (“The colours of water” and “Families”).

Maria Alexandra Mihăilă

Project manager

Bachelor degree: Technical University of Civil Engineering of Bucharest, Faculty of Hydrotechnics; University of Bucharest, Faculty of Administration and Business; Lucian Blaga University, Faculty of International Relations and European Studies. Master degree: Academy of Economic Studies, Faculty of Commerce. Professional experience: Artistic Consultant, Ion Creanga Theater; Chief – Cultural Office, Projects, Events and Communication, “Ştefan Iordache” Cultural & Youth Center; Assistant to the General Mayor’s Office, Bucharest City Hall; Councilor – Secretary of State, Ministry of Energy, Small and Medium Enterprises and Business Environment.

János Novák

Artistic and executive director

János Novák is a cellist, composer, executive director of Kolibri Theatre for Children and youth since 1992. He produced his most well-know fairy play, “Auntie Pepper” in 1981. Since than, he has directed 45 performances for children and adults. As a composer he has worked in more than 50 productions, including theatre performances and movies as well. Since 2000, he is the president of Hungarian ASSITEJ Centre.

György Philipp

Conductor and director

György started his musical education on percussions and violin, and graduated from The Franz Liszt Academy of Music as a conductor in 2005. He has been a teacher and choirmaster in the Schola Cantorum Budapestiensis. As a teacher, he has taught at the Hungarian Dance Academy, the Baltazar Theater. He is a member of the music staff at the Budapest Festival Orchestra. Worked as a stage musician at the Hungarian National Theatre and the Central European Dance Theatre; and also he sings opera roles as bariton and as countertenor in the National Opera house and other theaters. As conductor and director, he considers it his mission to stage opera performances that bring the genre closer to children as well as adults, even among the difficulties that afflict the Hungarian cultural scene.

Eva Vancsó

Responsible for international relations and administration

Eva Vancsó works for Kolibri Theatre for Children and Youth since 2016. She is responsible for international relations, and has administrative and organizational tasks as well. She is also the secretary of Hungarian ASSITEJ Centre.

Zoltán Mózes

Actor, dancer, musician

Currently, Zoltán Mózes is a member of Artus-Goda Gábor Company. He believes in a multidisciplinary approach to theatre; therefore as a freelancer actor, he performed in operas as well as in physical theatre performances. Besides acting, he works as a musician. Playing drums he is practised in noise music, traditional flamenco, progressive rock, soul-funk and world music. In his pedagogical work, he considers important encouraging independent research work and teaching openness to the cultures of other nations.

Rita Alexics

Actress and musician

Rita Alexics pursued dramatic studies at the Actor Training faculty of the Keleti István Art School in Budapest from 2003 to 2005. After graduating in May 2005, she signed up in the Kolibri Theatre for Children and Youth, where she has been a member ever since.
Currently the most prolific actor of the company, she plays in 16 performances, with more than 200 stage appearances annually. Besides her singing and prose leading roles, she also participates in the performances as a violin and tuba player. She also takes on roles in television shows.

Roberto Frabetti

Project manager of Mapping

In 1976 he took part in the foundation of La Baracca. For this company he works as director, actor, playwright and administrator. He is artistic director of the Festival for early years “Visioni di futuro, visioni di teatro”, Bologna. He designed and he coordinates Mapping project. From 2005 to 2018 he designed and coordinated four European Small size projects on the topic of Performing arts and early years. In 2007 he participated in the foundation of the Small size Network. He is member of the Executive Committee of Assitej International and Assitej Italia. For the projects on theatre for the very young he received the “ASSITEJ Award for Artistic Excellence 2008” (on behalf of La Baracca) and the “ASSITEJ Germany Award 2013”. He wrote 62 shows for children and young people, 34 for early years. He wrote various books and articles for many anthologies, focusing in particular on the experiences of theatre for early years and theatre with young people

Bruno Frabetti

Research and accounting coordinator for Mapping

After graduating in Philosophy at the University of Bologna in 2013, Bruno Frabetti has been working with La Baracca – Testoni Ragazzi as actor, playwright, workshop leader for early years, producer, EU project manager. In particular, he coordinates as Producer “Visioni di futuro, visioni di teatro – International Festival of theatre and culture for early childhood”, a La Baracca – Testoni Ragazzi project. He worked for the EU project Small size, performing arts for early years, 2014-2018 as accountant, and he designed and is currently managing research and accounting for Mapping – A Map on the aesthetics of performing arts for early years.

Anna Sacchetti

Promotion and management coordinator for Mapping

Anna started working with La Baracca in 2008 as producer and manager of European projects. During these years, together with her colleagues, she followed three different projects funded by different Culture programmes (from Culture 2000 to Creative Europe): Small size, the net 2006-2009 (for the final reporting part), Small size, big citizens 2009-2014 and Small size, performing arts for early years 2014-2018 (from the applications to the final reports throughout all the duration of the projects). She worked on the application for Mapping. A Map on the aesthetics of performing arts for early years 2018-2022, and will be in charge of managing the organization and the promotion of the Project.

Sara Lanzi

Actress and workshop leader

Sara started attending theatre workshops at primary school. After graduating in Theatre at the University of Bologna, she joined the Baracca as a workshop leader, usher and actress. Over the years she has collaborated with many cultural associations working in the field of children activities, and since 2012 she is an employee of La Baracca – Testoni Ragazzi. She took part in the creation of several productions for children and young people, and she leads theatre workshops for nursery schools, kindergartens and primary schools. She is also part of the staff employed in the relationships with the school and family audience who attend the theatre.

Andrea Buzzetti

Actor, Director and Light technician

In 2002 he became a member of La Baracca, where he worked at first as a light technician, and later as an actor.
He soon started presenting several shows on a national and international level, displaying an immediate interest and inclination towards the youngest audiences (1-4 years old).
Thanks to his double professional profile, in 2007 he contributed to the creation of the project Theatre and Light, centered on the interaction between the world of lighting and theatre for children.
In 2014 he started an artistic line of shows for early childhood that privileges movement over words. Since 2017 he has been a director of shows for early years, both for La Baracca and on an international level. He leads masterclasses for artists interested in working for children.

Giada Ciccolini

Actress and Light Technician

A former rhythmic gymnastics athlete, Giada Ciccolini began attending theatre workshops with La Baracca in 2005. After graduating in Contemporary History at the University of Bologna, he attended a course in lighting engineering at the Academy of Light in Umbertide (PG), and in 2009 she starts working with La Baracca as a light technician and an actress. Since then she has presented shows at national and international level, also taking part in the process of creation and artistic research, and has developed a particular interest for the public 0-6. From 2016 she is a member of La Baracca.

Uroš Korenčan

General manager

Uroš Korenčan (1969) graduated at University of Ljubljana (Philosophy and Social Science), engaged himself in puppetry already in student period (Kranj Puppet Theatre / Gruppa Ultra – performances for adults) and worked in the different fields of organising culture and cultural policies. Currently he is a General Manager of Lutkovno gledališče Ljubljana / Ljubljana Puppet Theatre.

Mare Bulc

Artistic director

Mare Bulc is an award winning theatre director and from September 2022 the artistic director of Ljubljana Puppet Theatre. He is also a performer, theatre writer and mentor. His works have been presented in Europe and the United States. From 2010 to 2013 he was the artistic director of Glej Theatre in Ljubljana.

Peter Glanville

Artistic director and joint chief executive

Peter Glanville joined Polka Theatre in November 2013 following eight years as Artistic Director and Chief Executive of Little Angel Theatre. At Polka, Peter has advanced his reputation for Early Years work as well as directing premieres of new productions including by authors Michael Rosen, Helen Stephens, and Julia Donaldson. He has directed acclaimed productions including “Moominsummer Madness”, “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt”, “The Tear Thief” and “The Everywhere Bear”.

Lynette Shanbury

Executive Director and Joint Chief Executive

Lynette Shanbury was appointed as Polka Theatre’s new Executive Director and joint Chief Executive in August 2018. Prior to this, Lynette spent four years as Executive Director of inclusive theatre company Spare Tyre, guiding the organization as it approached its 40th anniversary. Prior to joining Spare Tyre, Lynette spent eight years with renowned London puppetry venue Little Angel Theatre – initially as General Manager and later as Executive Director.

Sara Myrberg

Artistic Director and actress

Sara has worked at Teater Tre since 1997. She is in charge of the artistic expression and the performances at Teater Tre. She has created and participated in many of the performances for the youngest children. The performances are all touring and Sara has played for children both in Sweden and internationally, for example, Japan, USA, Australia, Cameroon and Italy.

Lina Karlmark

Producer

Lina is a producer at Teater Tre since 2017 and responsible of international projects. She graudated 2002 with a B.A HONS in Drama and Theatre Studies from the University of Roehampton in London. Since then she has been working with children and youth in education with a focus on creative learning and drama. She is also one of the co-founders of Stockholm Fringe Festival and project manager of the festival´s youth initiative Young Stoff.

Hedvig Claesson

Director

Hedvig has a M.A in film and theater from Stockholm University and a degree from Stockholm Film School. Her directing assignments include “Iron” by Rona Munro (Stockholm City Theater), “The Virgin” by Jean Genet (The National Theater), “The Widows” by J.C. Oates (Strindberg’s Intima Theater).
In 2012, Hedvig made her off-Broadway debut in New York with “Act Before You Speak” at The Flea Theater: a Hamlet without words for two women and a violinist.
She has directed Teater Tre’s “Kurt och Kio” (3-6 years) and the baby performance “Bo” (6-18 months).

Love Kjellsson

Musician and composer

Love Kjellsson is a musician and composer who moves in the borderland between modern circus and music. Growing up with folk music, he later in life tried to combine it with alternative pop / rock. He works with digital production and syntheses as well as with traditional singing, violin and electric guitar. He has composed music for Teater Tre productions BO (6-18 months) and Frö/Seed (2-4 years).

Anne Jonsson

Artistic director

Anne Jonsson is the artistic director of Teater Tre. Trained in corporeal mime at Ecole de mime corporel dramatique in London, UK, Anne now works as a director of movement based theatre and as a choreographer in Sweden and internationally.

Susanna Humlesjö

Executive director

Susanna Humlesjö is the Executive director of Teater Tre since June 2022.
She has been working with Teater Tre as a producer since 2014. Before this, Sanna worked at Kulturhuset Stadsteatern where she contributed to creating and running the award winning platform Lava for fifteen years.

Barbara Małecka

Project manager and set designer

Theatrologist, set designer and producer of artistic events. Co-founder of Art Fraction Foundation. Artistic director of the International Festival of Arts for Early Years ‘Sztuka Szuka Malucha’. Author of scenography for world touring productions (including coproductions with Norway & Japan). Currently works for Teatr Animacji w Poznaniu as a Artistic Director of KONTEKSTY festival & project manager.

Paweł Gałkowski

Project manager and researcher

PhD in philosophy, MA in culture science & philosophy. Head of Art Fraction Foundation. Researcher. Author & coordinator of multiple cultural and social projects.  

Piotr Klimek

General manager

Composer, lecturer and music producer. Absolvent of the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague, PhD in composition at the Academy of Music in Poznań. Assistant professor at the Szczecin University and The Academy of Art in Szczecin. Writes symphonic, choral, chamber and electronic music. From 1991 cooperates closely with theatre directors, and since that time he wrote music for over 180 performances.

Alicja Morawska-Rubczak

Early years theatre director

Early years theatre director, theatre pedagogue, curator, researcher. Author of 11 performances from which many are touring wolrdwide. Member of Art Fraction Foundation. Curator of the International Festival of Arts for Early Years ‘Sztuka Szuka and many artistic and educational projects for children and young people. Together with Barbara Małecka she creates independent artistic duo working exclusively for early years.

Maria Pilar López

Project Manager and Audience Development

Her training and professional practice are linked to the meeting spaces between the Performing Arts, mediation and audience development. She is an academic founder of the Spanish Academy of Performing Arts and vice president of Small Size Network. She currently manages the Artistic Innovation Centre for Early Years-KunArte and the Small Scene Festival. She is also responsible for the European Project POCTEFA-MIND THE GAP.

Rosa Angela García

Artistic Director and actress

Artistic Director of Teatro Paraíso, actress and author. She has worked principally in the clown language and dramaturgy for early years. Responsible for the artistic projects of the company about Art and Early Years and for the Haur Antzerkia project in the Kindergartens of Vitoria-Gasteiz. Graduate from the University School of Elementary Teaching at UPV/EHU and specialized in Expressive Techniques at the Expression School of the Town Council of Barcelona. She performs mentoring tasks with other artists and companies.

Tomás Fernandez

Artistic Director of the Programming

Artistic Director of Teatro Paraíso, actor and author. In charge of the selection of artistic proposals and starting-up of the performances. Responsible for the selection of performances included in the early years and youth programming and for the external projection of the company. Graduate in Acting from the Royal School of Dramatic Art (RESAD) at Madrid and specialized in Expressive Techniques at the Expression School of Barcelona. He develops mentoring tasks with other artists and companies.

Ander Elorza

Communication Specialist

He studied Basque Philology at the University of the Basque Country and Photography Direction and Camera Operator at the C.E.C.C. in Barcelona. Since then he has been developing his main activity in media, in different TV Channels of the Basque Country. He works now as Communications Manager in Teklak and he is also a documentary film director.

Gracia Maria López

Financial Management of the Project

Financial manager of Teatro Paraíso and coordinator of management and organization of the performing arts programming of the company: Teatro Beñat Etxepare, Mitusu, KunArte, Festival Pequeña Escena. She is an administrative with more than 25 years of professional development in the area of Cultural Management, performing mentoring tasks in collaboration with others artistic structures.

Ana Isabel Fernandez

Support to Artistic Team and to Audience Development

Founding member of Teatro Paraíso. Her professional development has been linked to the artistic team of the company where she performs tasks of set and costume design and construction, and in charge of the atrezzo as well. Responsible for the artistic installations for early years in KunArte, Small Scene Festival and Haur Antzerkia project. She collaborates with the audience development team in the development of artistic artifacts.

Rocio Salazar

Administration and translation

With studies in Administration and Foreign Trade, she is in charge of the economic administration and labor management of the company. She has mostly worked in the cultural area, developing tasks of management linked to the book editing and organizing workshops and courses focused on personal development. Translations for the international projects of the company are also part of her work.

Reginster Gaëtane

Project manager and director

Gaëtane Reginster is director of The Théâtre de la Guimbarde since 2012. After being an assistant on Etc. by Daniela Ginevro, she created “King of Clay”, a project for toddlers with the Théâtre Eclair from Ouagadougou. In 2015, she participated in the production of “Sweet & Swing”. In 2017, she created Taama, a musical show for children aged 1+. She finds her inspiration in African soil. Her next project will be called “Tiébélé”. In her creations, she seeks to bring into resonance the world of the little ones with the beauty – even rough – of the world, music, voice, gestures, bodies of other humans. Since 2013, she provide artistic training for early childhood professionals and give sensory exploration workshops in creches and in public.

Stevens Vincent

Technical manager

Vincent Stevens is technical manager since 2008. He’s light creator, steward, hacker of all kinds, builder in his own time, stage master, Vincent Stevens defines himself as a “wanderer of the dark trays in perpetual roaming in search of oneself”. Pro, available, always quiet and yet at the touch, it is the link between the office life and the tour life.

Ouedraogo Nadège

Performer

Trained at the ATB Theater School (Burkina Faso), she completed her artistic training at the INAFAC music school and during various stages in acting, staging and writing. Nadège is an actress, singer and dancer. She has participated in numerous projects in theater, television and cinema. We see her notably in a feature film by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne “Ahmed” (2018) or “The Extraordinary Journey of Fakir” (2017) by Ken Scott or at the National Theater in “The Chorus of Ali” (2017-2019) by Julie Jaroszweski. At the last “Les Récréâtrales” in Burkina Faso, she played in “Musika” by Aristide Tarnagda.

Grosfils Laurence

Scenographer

Laurence is an author and illustrator of children’s books published in several countries under the pseudonym Laurence Afano. Her fictional universe is also manifest in her story boxes, metal
sculpture, and theatrical set design. Laurence teaches fine art instruction on a university level to future educators. She also leads art workshops for children and gives adult education classes on an ongoing basis. With La Guimbarde, she realized the set design of “Taama”.

Bérénice De Clercq

Performer

Studied Theater at Kleine Academie, and Philosophy and Social sciences at University in Belgium.  Bérénice is working as an actress and workshop leader. She leads theater and philosophy workshops with kids in a kindergarten and worked with several action-theatre companies. She played in Mythologies by Helene Lacrosse, and is developing a project of polyphonic music since 2016. She is also developing her approach to music with the practice of Kamélé N’goni.

Pernille Bach

Concept developer, creative/visual artist and actress

She founded Theatre Madam Bach with Christian Schroder in 1997 in order to create high quality theatre for the younger audience. Her experience, creativity and unique ability to be ‘in tune’ with the children are a key to the success of Theatre Madam Bach. She has turned a milestone with 150 performances in China and tour in 42 countries with her shows and workshops.

Christian Schroder

Artistic director of Theatre Madam Bach, Chairman of the board in Odder Little Culture Club and LYDENSKAB

His performances and art projects is touring World wide in 42 countries with more than 200 shows in China and Japan.

Anne Hübertz Brekne

Dramaturge

Anne Hübertz holds a Master of Arts in Dramaturgy (Aarhus University) and a Master of Arts in Physical Theater (Royal Holloway London & University of Surrey). She has worked as a independent production dramaturge since 2007 with tasks ranging from dramaturgical work and concept development to project management, text production and communication. Anne Hübertz has worked with Theatre Madam Bach since 2014.

Katharina Schrott

Artistic Director

Born in Salzburg, Katharina Schrott grew up with classical music, figure skating, flamenco and dance improvisation. She is a graduate in contemporary choreography, dance and performance from the ‚School for New Dance Development (SNDO) in Amsterdam. Since 2001 she is part of the Toihaus team in various functions – since 2015 as Artistic director of the biannual festival ‚BIM BAM‘ and since 2018 together with Cornelia Böhnisch as Artistic Director of the theatre. She will be the director of the Mapping production.

Yoko Yagihara

Musician

Born in Tokyo/ Japan she studied piano in Tokyo with a master thesis in music education and Music and Dance education at the ORFF institute in Salzburg with a major in percussion. Yoko Yagihara joined the Toihaus in 2005 and enriched many productions in various functions. She will be part of the Mapping production as musician.

Cornelia Böhnisch

Artistic Director

Born in Germany, Cornelia Böhnisch has been raised with violin and piano and is a awardee of ‚Jugend musiziert‘. Later on, she studied contemporary dance at the Bruckner university in Linz and started to work at the Toihaus theatre in 2004. Beside establishing theatre for early years in Salzburg she developed series such as ‚Tanzwut‘ or was Artist in Residence at Tokyo Wonder Site. Since august 2018 she figures together with Katharina Schrott as Artistic director of the Toihaus theatre.

Karin Bitterli

Administrative Director

Born in Switzerland, Karin Bitterli holds a Master of Arts in European Studies and has worked for six years for the MEDIA strand of the Creative Europe Programme in Zurich. Since 2018 she is part of the Toihaus team, since august 2018 in the position of the administrative director. Karin will be responsible of the administrative organisation of the biannual children theatre festival BIM BAM as well as for administrative roll out of „Mapping“ at Toihaus Theater Salzburg.

Katsumi Komagata

Illustrator

Katsumi Komagata is an award-winning Japanese author and designer, world-renowned for his exquisitely crafted books. He founded One Stroke in 1986, which began as a graphic design studio and later expanded into children’s book publishing. In 2000, he was awarded a special mention for lifetime achievement at the 2016 BolognaRagazzi Award.

Website

Manuel Marsol

Illustrator

Manuel Marsol, who grew up in Madrid, has degrees in Advertising and Audiovisual Communication, and a postgraduate diploma in Children’s Book Illustration. He was featured in the Bologna Illustrators Exhibition four times, and won the International Prize for Illustration in 2017 edition of Bologna Children’s Book Fair. Moreover, he won the V Catálogo Iberoamericano de Ilustración and the Edelvives International Picture Book Award, and the Premio Nacional Amadora BD. He has worked for many big events and festival both in Europe and Mexico, collaborating with maganzines and newspapers like El País. 

Website

Fabian Negrin

Illustrator

Fabian Negrin was born in Cordoba, Argentina. He moved to Milan in 1989 and is now an Italian citizen and an award-winning author. Aside from illustrating children’s books, Negrin contributes with his illustrations to a number of Italian magazines and newspapers, and is a successful graphic designer, creating advertisement campaigns for various European companies.

Klaas Verplancke

Illustrator

Klaas Verplancke is a Belgian author and illustrator. Since 1990, he has written and illustrated more than 150 books and his illustrations have been published in the New York Times, as well as in several European magazines and newspapers. Klaas has won the BolognaRagazzi Award, he was a finalist for the Hans Christian Andersen Award, and he has been nominated ten times running for the famous Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award.

Website

Katherine Morley

Researcher

Katherine Morley is an Early Years associate artist at the egg, Theatre Royal Bath and a President’s Doctoral Scholar at the University of Manchester. Funded by the AHRC she is currently in the final year of a PhD concerning Spectatorship in the Early Years performance arena, focusing closely on infants aged 0-18 months. At the heart of this work is the notion of stillness, (‘The body as an Ear’), imbricating theories of cognitive development and proxemics with the significance of the child’s ‘natural’, corporeal response to the theatrical experience. This research examines and intends to progress theories of relational spectatorship, placing the child’s sensorium at its heart.

Yvette Hardie

Researcher

Yvette Hardie is a theatre director, producer, and educator, focusing on young audiences. She is serving her 3rd term as President of ASSITEJ International, whose members come from over 100 countries. She initiated the launch of ASSITEJ South Africa in 2007, and leads the organisation as Director. She has written and spoken extensively on issues relating to arts for young audiences, arts education and arts for reconciliation around the globe. She has written national curricula and textbooks for Creative Arts, and is involved in both teacher training and artist mentoring.

Manon van de Water

Researcher

Manon van de Water is the Vilas-Phipps Distinguished Achievement Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Director of the Theatre for Youth Program. She is a founder and past Chair of ITYARN and an Executive Committee member of ASSITEJ, the international Association of Theatre for Children and Youth. She has published widely on Theatre for Young Audiences, national and international. Her current research project is a biography of Natalia Sats (1903-1993), a major player in the creation of Soviet Russian Theatre for children and youth. In August 2017, she received the Judith Kase Cooper Honorary Research Award for Life Time Achievement from the American Alliance for Theatre and Education.

Young Ai Choi

Researcher

Young Ai Choi is Professor for Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA) at Korea National University of Arts (K-Arts). She was born and brought up in Seoul, Korea. She studied Drama/Theatre for the Young in the U.S. After returning to Korea, she established M.F.A. degree program of Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA) at K-Arts in 1999, which is the only program in the field in Korea. She has worked as Director of TYA Research Centre at the National Theatre Company of Korea (2011-2015). She was one of the founding Members of International TYA Research Network (ITYARN) in 2006 and served on the ITYARN board until 2017. She is currently working as Education Director for TYA productions.

Luisella Carnelli

Researcher – Audience Development

Luisella Carnelli has a PhD in Theory and History of Theatre and a Master in Entrepreneurship of Performing Arts. Since 2005 she works as researcher and consultant at Fondazione Fitzcarraldo.

As researcher and consultant, she carries out studies and researches designed to investigate the crucial aspects of creativity. She specially deals with analysis of cultural behaviours and cultural project evaluation, with a primary focus on audience engagement and participatory approaches for performing arts. She is involved as researcher and trainer in different EU Projects on the topic of Audience Development & Engagement: ADESTE, CONNECT, BeSpectACTive!, Dancing Museums, Empowering Dance, Adeste+

Giuliana Ciancio

Researcher – Audience Development

Giuliana Ciancio is a cultural manager, curator, researcher in the field of live performing arts. In her career, she has collaborated with public institutions and independent organizations at local and international level.
Engaged in the creation of successful grant proposals focused on participation, art production and cultural policy, she is presently the co-curator and project manager of the EU cooperation project “Be SpectACTive!”. Since October 2016 she is researcher at the CCQO (Culture Commons Quest Office) at the University of Antwerp, Belgium. She is also co-founder and board member of no-for-profit enterprise Liv.In.G (Live Internationalization Gateway).
She is lecture at master’s level for a variety of institutions.

Gerd Taube

Researcher – Follow Up

Prof. Dr. Gerd Taube studied Theater Studies at the Humboldt University in Berlin. From 1989 to 1993 he was senior dramaturge and deputy director of the Municipal Puppet Theater Karl-Marx-Stadt / Chemnitz. Subsequently, he was founding director of the Puppet Theater Schaubude Berlin. Since 1997, he has been directing the Kinder- und Jugendtheaterzentrum (Children and Youth Theater Center in the Federal Republic of Germany) in Frankfurt am Main and is Artistic Director of the National Biennial of the Theater for Young Audiences Augenblick mal! in Berlin. He has been a lecturer at the Goethe University Frankfurt am Main from 1997 to 2014 and has been honorary professor at the Institute since 2014. From 2009 to 2018 he was chairman of the Federal Association of Cultural Education for Children and Adolescents (BKJ), whose board member he had been since 1999. Since 2010 he has been leading the Artistic Directors Meetings in Small size projects.