Board of Directors
Janene Ping, President
Janene is an early childhood educator who has taught Kindergarten at Hawthorne Valley Waldorf school for the last 30+ years. She is an advocate for children's rights, teaching child development classes in adult education in various venues including Sophia's Hearth and the Alkion Center. In 1992 she founded The Magical Puppet Tree Theater to enrich pedagogical, therapeutic, and artistic dimensions of multicultural storytelling and festival life in her community. Since then, Janene has brought over 60 different world cultural tales to the puppet stage, exploring how marionettes, table, hand, and rod puppets can be ensouled to serve the magic of story. In recent years she has added a layer of colored light and shadow to her artistic explorations.
Marjorie Rehbach, Secretary
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.
Jennifer Aguirre, Treasurer
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
Brian Hull is a writer, director, performer, puppeteer, animator and producer. Brian has been the head of Wishing Chair Productions Puppet Troupe at the Nashville Public Library for 24 years adapting and producing more than 30 stage shows - he is also the Artistic Director of their International Puppet Festivals. He was a board member and President of PUPPETEERS OF AMERICA and has worked in entertainment for over four decades; starting at age 17 as a performer at Fantasyland, a children's park in Gettysburg, PA. During the early 1990’s he developed and was Professor U.B. Sharp of the “Professor’s Backyard” children's section for Opryland USA in Nashville, TN. For Dollywood Theme Park: the writing and directing for The Imagination Playhouse with numerous original award-winning mini-musicals - adapted from books associated with Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. His puppet play KAYTEK THE WIZARD travels the country to introduce the teachings of Janusz Korczak - www.brianimations.com
Joyce Reilly
Born and raised in a multi cultural community in New York, my interest in world diversity and social justice was awakened early on. In middle school I had the good fortune of creating marionette shows and performing in underserved school communities. My love of children's literature, and especially all things Beatrix Potter, was strengthened in college. After training as a Waldorf and Therapeutic teacher, my interest in mental health led me to find a therapeutic community. I now practice as a life coach, weaving together all the various threads of my life experiences and trainings.Fortunately, I was able to reawaken my love of puppetry, training with Suzanne Down, and working with a marionette theatre in New York City for a few years. Finding myself very inspired by the life and work of Janusz Korczak, I would love to someday take suitcase and apron puppet theatre to conflict zones, refugee camps, and bereaved children! Right now, I am thrilled and honored to be a part of the World Association of Puppetry and Storytelling Arts and look forward to our next chapter!
Mindy Upton
Mindy is a mother, grandmother, early childhood educator, movement educator, puppeteer and handwork teacher. She founded Blue Sky Kindergarten in 1990, a Waldorf inspired preschool/kindergarten in Boulder Colorado, where she was a lead teacher for 32 years with children ages 3-7, as well as lead parent/child classes, parent education, and was the director since its inception.
She was an adjunct faculty member for 25 years at Naropa University where she taught Movement Theory using Rudolf Laban’s principles of Space Harmony and was faculty member in the Early Childhood Education department. She teaches and mentors teachers at Lifeways Early Childhood Teacher training.
This fall Mindy has opened Blue Sky Craft Studio, where she brings teachers and families together to explore various forms of fiber arts, crafts, and doll making. Beginning this fall she has launched “Three Wishes,” a puppetry troupe where she is choreographing and creating seasonal puppet shows. Mindy leads and trains puppeteers using various types of puppets rod, hand, marionette and shadow puppets at her studio and various schools.
It is an honor to be part of the World Association of Puppetry and Storytelling Arts.
Connie Manson
Connie Manson, BFA, MSEd
A lifelong musician/singer with a deep love of teaching and performing, Connie found inspiration in the Waldorf approach while living in New York City. There she was working as an actress and early childhood asst. teacher and attended a workshop led by master teacher Joan Almon at Sunbridge College. Soon following, Connie founded Starlite Puppets & Music, trained at Sunbridge College, and became a Waldorf early childhood teacher.
She was encouraged by Joan Almon to begin an association inspired by Steiner's impulse to bring the puppet arts to community, in a way which could offer renewal and the nurturing of community connection. Through the united contributions of dedicated and gifted Waldorf inspired teachers and puppeteers, The North American Association of the Renewal of Puppetry Arts came into being. A seasonal newsletter, networking opportunities and several resulting festivals became seeds for WAPASA.
Connie has over 30 years of experience teaching in Waldorf schools, and currently leads an outdoor parent child program, She also leads on campus parent infant/child programs at the Waldorf School of Tampa Bay.
She shares her love of music and puppetry on stages in the surrounding Tampa Bay areas, and online worldwide. She serves as a mentor/teacher in the Waldorf approach to early childhood programming, music, and the puppetry arts. Connie continues to be inspired by the presence, connection, community building, and pure magic that puppetry brings, and is honored to be a part of the WAPASA Board.
