DASSIA N. POSNER

PERFORMANCE

Puppeteer:

"Snow Story," Blood from a Turnip, Providence, RI

Are You Ready, My Sister?, Underground Railway Theater, Arlington, MA

The Creation of the World, Underground Railway Theater, Arlington, MA

The Tempest (on Mars), Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors, New York, NY

The Odyssey through New York, Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors, New York, NY

Aces and Galatea, Arts at St. Ann's, Brooklyn, NY

Romeo and Juliet in New York City, Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors, New York, NY

Ferdinand Faithful: a Puppet Opera, Arts at St. Ann's, Brooklyn, NY

The Cardboard Circus, Bread and Puppet, Glover, VT

Actress:

"Miss A," The Shawl Newton, MA

"Fate," An Equestrian Ballet, Performance Space 122, New York, NY

"Gertrude Stein," Mother of Us All, Bates Festival Theater, Lewiston, ME

"Phoebe," As You Like It, Schaeffer Theater, Lewiston, ME

"Agafia Tikhonovna," Marriage, Moscow Art Theater School, Russia

"Natasha," Three Sisters, Moscow Art Theater School, Russia

"Ruth," S.T.U.R.: a funk adaptation of A Raisin in the Sun, Gannett Theater, ME

"Bernarda Alba," The House of Bernarda Alba, Brighton Theater Festival, England

PRODUCTION

Coordinator/Designer, First Night Boston, Boston, MA

Created sixteen puppets based on the paintings of Marc Chagall, taught over ten groups of students how to make their own giant puppets, developed choreography, and led a section of the parade for five consecutive years.

Translator/Assistant Director, Stanislavsky Summer Theatre School, Cambridge, MA

Facilitated master acting teacher Mikhail Lobonov in training professional actors and high school students in acting exercises based on the Stanislavsky method and the exercises of Michael Chekhov. Assistant directed two Ostrovsky performances.

Director, "The Nose," by Nikolai Gogol; Boston, MA

Received a grant from the Boston Cultural Council and the Somerville Arts Council to develop and perform a bilingual Russian-English shadow puppet ballet.

Coordinator/Designer, Israel's 50th Jubilee, Boston, MA

Initiated, planned, organized and produced a giant puppet and banner parade for the Israel's Independence Day celebration on the Boston Common. Organized 150 people for the event. Project commissioned by the JCC of Greater Boston.

Director/Artist-in-Residence, Alice Ferguson Foundation, Accokeek, MD

Commissioned by an environmental agency to direct giant puppet pageants, including Mother Earth Comes to Accokeek. The Creation of the World, or, Why the Woman Always Has the Last Say, Theater of Shadows, and Love, Dragons and Real Estate.

Director, Bates College, Lewiston, ME

Translated, adapted for the stage, and directed Gogol's short story The Overcoat. Developed and experimental production which emphasized movement and sound. Senior thesis production awarded honors.

Director, Stanislavsky Theater, Moscow, Russia

Worked with Moscow Art Theatre master teacher Dolgochyov to Chekhov's The Marriage Proposal with Russian actors.

ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCIES

Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

Taught incoming freshmen how to build giant puppets and put together a show.

SIMHA, Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine

Participated in an international artist exchange. Led thirty middle and high students and six adults in a pageant about cleaning up the Dnepr River. Project sponsored by the JCRC.

ArtBeat Festival, Somerville, MA

Organized a history of art parade and a dragon parade with YMCA students. Sponsored by the Somerville Arts Council.

Exploration Summer Program, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA

Built a giant puppet pageant with middle and high school children.

The Governor's Institute on the Arts, Castleton, VT

Initiated a stilting group with high school students in the annual July 4th parade. Worked as puppeteer and Resident Assistant for three summers.

Driscoll School/Earth Day 1997, Boston, MA

Inspired the sixth grade at Driscoll School in Brookline to create a parade featuring Mother Earth to kick off the Earth Day concert on the Esplanade. Project commissioned by the MDC.

Harvard Elementary School, Harvard, MA

Inspired sixth graders to make a giant dragon for their production of The Hobbit: A Musical. Made possible by a grant from the Harvard Trust.

Canterbury School/Potomac River Cleanup, Washington, D. C.

Created an environmental parade with the Alice Ferguson Foundation, high school students, and park services from five states.

The Children's Free Opera and Dance of New York, New York, NY

Taught giant puppet making to 300 urban elementary students in public schools without regular art programs. Workshops ran for three months as part of an outreach program developed by the Orchestra of St. Luke.

EDUCATION

Tufts University, Medford, MA, September 1999- present

Masters of Arts program; studying the history of theatre.

Bates College, Lewiston, ME; Bachelor of Arts, May 1994

Double Majors: Theater and Russian

Honors: Cum Laude; Dean's List; Honors in Theater

Moscow Art Theater School, Moscow, Russia

Classes conducted in Russian: directing, acting, stage movement, dance, voice, and Russian theater history. 1992-93

PERSONAL

Member of the Massachusetts Cultural Council Artists' Roster and the Puppeteers Cooperative. Board member on the Boston Area Guild of Puppetry. Awarded several grants for excellence as an individual artist and to conduct local residencies in schools. Fluent in Russian, elementary knowledge of Spanish.