Co-Artistic & Educational Director: Peter Balkwill

Peter Balkwill is a founding, co-Artistic Director at the Old Trout Puppet Workshop in Calgary, Alberta. He holds an MFA in Acting from the University of Washington in Seattle, and a BFA in Theatre from University of Victoria. He also serves as the Co-Artistic Curator for the International Festival of Animated Objects, held every two years in Calgary, Alberta.

While studying Peter focused almost exclusively on the physical application of theatre both in creation as well as acting and directing. He has taught as head of movement at the University of Victoria and facilitated workshops with companies across Canada, U.S. Denmark and France – including as Director of the Banff Puppet Intensive at the Banff Center for Arts & Creativity,  and Co-Director of the New England Puppet Intensive. He has also led extended workshops at Hollyhock, NTS, Toronto School Of Puppetry, Brown University, Rhode Island, University of Washington, and the RCA in St John’s Newfoundland.

Peter has served as Artist in Residence at the University of Lethbridge and the University of Calgary. Other teaching modalities include ten years as an outdoor, experiential educator in outdoor leadership, building group strength through initiative challenges at the Rocky Mountain YMCA Outdoor Center, situated in the Canadian Rockies.

Peter is also the drummer of the boot stomping, punk-bluegrass, hollar band called The Agnostic Mountian Gospel Choir.

Co-Artistic & Educational Director: Elaine Weryshko

Elaine Weryshko is a physical theatre artist and practitioner of modern live performance space from Calgary/Mohkínstsis, Canada. Her medium is a poetic body for a Post-Britney world, that she writes for it in a practice-based out of extensive training in Lecoq physical theatre devising and contemporary dance/movement methods. She writes, performs, produces, designs and kamikaze’s live events for large-scale shows in alternative spaces all over Alberta. She specializes in various mask styles with a particular fondness towards full-faced Larval and Neutral mask.

Elaine is the co-creator/coordinator of The WunderBriefs, a series of short puppet works, during the Animated Objects Festival and an avid deviser of self-produced new theatrical works. In the past she has worked with or presented at: The Old Trout Puppet Workshop, Alberta Gallery of Art, Mile Zero Dance, Sage Theatre, Springboard Performance, Swallow A Bicycle, Calgary International Children’s Theatre, Theatre Junction (Next Stages), the Pacitti Company (UK), The Invisible Dog (NYC), and mentored with immersive theatre giant PunchDrunk in their London production A Drowned Man. She has trained around the world at: The London International School of Performing Arts, Dell’ Arte International School of Physical Theatre (USA) and The Manitoulin Conservatory for Creation and Performance.

https://weryshko.com
Email Elaine

Board of Directors

Andrew Cooper – President
Alexandra Lewis – Vice President
Christopher Duthie – Secretary
Xstine Cook – Casino Chair
Nikki Loach – Treasure
Jen Zhao – Director