Basil Twist is a New York City-based puppeteer who is known for his underwater puppet show, "Symphonie Fantastique".
14 Facts About Basil Twist
2.
Basil Twist was named a MacArthur Fellowship recipient on September 29,2015.
3.
Originally from San Francisco, Basil Twist is a third generation puppeteer.
4.
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.
9.
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, Pilobolus, Paula Vogel and Joe Goode.
12.
Basil Twist is considered an important theater artist by critics at The New York Times, The New Yorker, et al.
13.
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.
14.
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.