1. Basil Twist is a New York City-based puppeteer who is known for his underwater puppet show, "Symphonie Fantastique".
15 Facts About Basil Twist
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Basil Twist was named a MacArthur Fellowship recipient on September 29,2015.
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Basil Twist is openly gay and married to Broadway dancer Ken Ard.
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Originally from San Francisco, Basil Twist is a third generation puppeteer.
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Basil Twist graduated from the Ecole Superieure Nationale des Arts de la Marionnette in Charleville-Mezieres, France.
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Basil Twist is founder and director of the Dream Music Puppetry Program at Here Arts Center in NYC, which supports and produces new puppet artists.
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Basil Twist was a Fall 2015 MacArthur Fellow at the NYU Center for Ballet and the Arts.
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Basil Twist creates puppet works focused on their integration with music.
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Basil Twist directed and designed Humperdinck's opera, Hansel and Gretel, for the Houston Grand Opera and the Atlanta Opera.
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In 2010, Basil Twist created the puppetry for the Broadway productions of The Pee-wee Herman Show and The Addams Family.
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Basil Twist is known for his original adult puppet mediums and use of abstraction in puppetry.
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Basil Twist has collaborated with such artists as Joey Arias, Lee Breuer, Kate Bush, Pilobolus, Paula Vogel and Joe Goode.
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Basil Twist is considered an important theater artist by critics at The New York Times, The New Yorker, et al.
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Basil Twist has received national and regional recognition through numerous awards, including a Rome Prize from the American Academy in Rome, an Obie Award, a Creative Capital Award in the discipline of Performing Arts and a Guggenheim fellowship, and his work has been presented internationally.
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In 2022, it was announced that Basil Twist was leading the puppetry in the Royal Shakespeare Company adaptation of My Neighbor Totoro at the Barbican Theatre, London.