The UNIMA Internationale Professional Training Commission is organizing the Third International Conference on Training in the Arts of Puppetry in collaboration with the Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina (UDESC). The conference entitled “Staging and the diversity of the creative processes in contemporary puppet theater” will take place from May 15-20, 2019,
in Florianópolis, Brazil.

After having addressed in 2015 the definition of the puppet and puppet theater and in 2017, teaching philosophies, training methods, and the links between traditional and contemporary theater, the Third Conference will examine the different aspects of the current notion of staging.

• How to define the stage director? Because its functions differ and are not definitive.
• How to teach staging? What kind of staging? For what kind of theater?
• What could be the pedagogy for a puppet theater which is constantly evolving? We have to take in consideration that today the puppet is created from the abundance of contemporary art forms and is produced with an overflowing inventiveness: how do we approach staging and how do we teach it in this perspective?

We propose:

• To explore what is theatre staging today, in relation to the diversity of creative 
processes and of dramaturgical structures.
• To explore the training method(s) of theatre staging. How does the pedagogy of 
teaching theatre staging meet the requirements of contemporary theatre?
• To explore the importance of the visual image in contemporary theatre and its 
functions in the dramaturgy of the show.

In this spirit, each day will include practical classes, creative process presentations and lectures on selected topics covering a series of questions to guide the debates. Each conference will be followed by an exchange on the topics discussed.

Academics, theater practitioners and students from over twenty-five countries will participate in the classes and debates.

For additional information, please contact:

• Irina Niculescu: inniculescu@gmail.com
• Paulo Balardim: paulobalardim@gmail.com
• Profesional Training Commission: professional-training@unima.org