Oxana Chi is a German-Nigerian Dancer, Choreographer, Yogi and Movement-Educator, based in New York. She is a Waldorf School alumna from the Rudolf Steiner School in Bochum, Germany, where she started her movement education with Eurythmy, theater practice and Bothmer gymnastic, then studied at renown art universities and schools for dance and drama in Germany and worldwide.

She began teaching in 1987, while she was still a student at the Gymnastic School Weber Schule Düsseldorf. Ever since, Oxana Chi has been teaching people of all ages and all backgrounds in the fields of dance- theatre, jazz dance, contemporary dance, gymnastics, dance fitness, Tai chi (Tàijí quán), Qi Gong, Yoga, improvisation, West African Dance, movement meditation, and Eurythmy.

Dr. Layla Zami is an interdisciplinary artist and scholar from Paris, France. She is a Visiting Assistant Professor at Pratt Institute, working in the fields of performance, art history, and humanities. She holds a PhD from Humboldt-University in Berlin, and studied Classical Saxophone at the Conservatory in Le Mans, France. As a Resident Artist with Oxana Chi Dance & Art, Layla creates and performs her own multi-instrumental music, poetry, and physical theater in dialogue with the choreography.

Since 1998, Jennifer Aguirre has been teaching a Puppetry Grades (1st through 8th) Curriculum at the Sierra Waldorf School where she also performs regularly for the school’s kindergartens and festival events. She has developed eight different themed Puppet Pocket Story Aprons and has enchanted young audiences with her puppet performances for over 25 years in a variety of venues. Jennifer enjoys teaching the Art and Wonder of the Story Apron to adults.

She lives in a restored 1849 Gold Rush era home with her husband in Sonora, California where they raised their two grown children.

Brian Hull has spent over 40 years in entertainment and storytelling - as a writer, director, performer, animator and producer. Brian has been the head of Wishing Chair Productions Puppet Troupe at the Nashville Public Library for 25 years; adapting and producing more than 30 stage shows - and has been the Artistic Director of their International Puppet Festivals. He was a board member and President of Puppeteers of America and is currently on the board of The World Association of Puppetry and Storytelling Arts. During the early 1990’s he developed and was Professor U.B. Sharp of the “Professor’s Backyard”; a children's section for Opryland USA in Nashville, TN. For Dollywood Theme Park: the writing and directing for The Imagination Playhouse adapted from books associated with Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. Together with his talented partner Mary Tanner they are BriAnimations Living Entertainment and their production of KAYTEK THE WIZARD travels the country to introduce the teachings of Janusz Korczak- www.brianimations.com

Throughout childhood I loved performing! It was to me a vehicle to connect with others in a joyful, meaningful way. Not long after completing a theatre arts degree, I was asked by a fellow graduate to help perform puppet stories for school children. We knelt in a large black box, holding the puppets above our heads, so we never had the opportunity to see the children's faces, but I was struck by how silent they were throughout the entire show. Later after beginning the journey as a teacher in a classroom, whenever a puppet troupe traveled to our school, it was unforgettable to see how strongly the children connected with the puppets!

The journey continued after beginning my Waldorf teacher training, where I discovered a treasure trove of nurturing stories, and a puppet storytelling style adored by children. Starlite Puppets was born, and thus began the journey of sharing music and puppetry worldwide.

All puppets are hand sculpted using natural fibers. Teaching others how to create their own puppets is such a joy, and I continue to delight in the wonder of helping others take their creations and learn how to make them come to life with meaningful gesture.

It is awe inspiring, and immensely gratifying, witnessing members of a community join together and open to the magic within a story told with puppets. The experience invites the audience members to slow down, to create within themselves a place for something new and wonder-filled to happen, and to enter into the simplicity and beauty within the immense richness of their imaginations.

I continue to have the privilege of supporting early childhood and grades teachers, parents, and home schooling families in puppetry creation and performance, music, and the wonder and magic of early childhood education.

Nancy Mellon has taught storytelling as a healing art worldwide for thirty years. Her books and workshops and courses brim with creative wisdom. Please visit her website at healingstory.com .

Janene Ping is a cultural creative, Waldorf Early Childhood and Adult Teacher Educator living in the Hawthorne Valley Waldorf Community of upstate N.Y. In 1992 she founded The Magical Puppet Tree Theater, seeking to enrich community festival life through a variety of puppetry arts.

Mindy Upton has been a mother grandmother and kindergarten teacher for the past 44 years. After college where she majored in early childhood education and movement theory, she began in depth Waldorf teacher and puppetry training.

She started Blue Sky Kindergarten and Craft School in Boulder Colorado in 1980 where she continues to teach children, parent/child education, puppetry classes and handwork workshops. She is a passionate advocate for bringing puppetry into the world to foster peace and harmony with her newly formed puppetry troupe “Three Wishes.” This troupe will be comprised of young children as well as adults and will have seasonal performances. She also has begun a small puppetry group comprised of kindergarten alumni that will be creating and performing “ suitcase stories” throughout their neighborhoods and beyond!

She is looking forward to being part of the World Puppetry Conference this summer.

For over 40 years, Marjorie has worked in Waldorf Schools and Camphill Communities in the U.S. and in Europe. Her lifelong love of puppets was further strengthened through taking a 3 year puppetry training with Suzanne Down when she finished class teaching in 2005. She has continued to work and learn more wherever she goes. Lately, she has found joy in sharing her love of this art through organizing puppetry and storytelling conferences in Olympia, WA and now, as a labor of love, through helping to establish the new World Association of Puppetry and Storytelling Arts.