Basil Twist - Effects Choreographer at English National Opera

Basil Twist

Silk Effects Choreographer

Basil Twist, originally from San Francisco, is a third-generation puppeteer and a graduate of the Ecole Supérieure Nationale des Arts de la Marionnette in France.

Previously for ENO: Aida

Career Highlights

Notable engagements elsewhere: He has directed and designed operas including Respighi’s La bella dormente nel bosco (Lincoln Center Festival, Spoleto) and Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel (Houston, Atlanta), and worked in ballet with Wheeldon on Cinderella (Royal Dutch Ballet, 2013), A Winter’s Tale (ROH, 2014) and Nutcracker (Joffrey Ballet, 2016). A retrospective of his work took place in Washington DC in 2012. In 2014 he was a part of the creative team for Kate Bush’s Before the Dawn. He directs the Dream Music Puppetry Program at HERE in New York City.

Original stage productions include: Symphonie Fantastique, Petrushka (Lincoln Center); Dogugaeshi (Barbican); Behind the Lid (Silver Whale Gallery); Arias with a Twist (Paris, Stockholm) and The Rite of Spring (Lincoln Center). He designed the puppetry for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Addams Family on Broadway, and he designed and co-directed A Streetcar Named Desire (La Comédie Française, Paris, 2011).

Awards and achievements: His honours include an Obie Award, five UNIMA Awards, two Bessie Awards, a Henry Hewes Award, a Guggenheim, Doris Duke Performing Artist Award and a MacArthur Fellowship. He directs the Dream Music Puppetry Program at HERE in New York City.

Last updated: 17th November 2017