Bio

As a performing artist, designer and director, Clea brings the language of contemporary puppetry to creations for theatre, film, music videos and musical performances. From 2002-2005 Clea trained as a student of the sixth promotion at L’Ecole Nationale Superieure des Arts de la Marionette, located at the International Institute of Puppetry Arts, in Charleville-Mezieres, France.

  In 2007-2008, she toured internationally with Feist, designing and performing live shadow puppetry and projections for close to one hundred concert performances. Her original theatrical creations include: The Living Lantern (Festival Casteliers ‘carte blanche’ 2009) Beauty (Commissioned by Youtheatre 2010), Oh! What a Feeling (Festival Casteliers 2007), and Immobile (Rhubarb! Festival of New Works, 2006). She has worked for theatre companies; (Shadowland Theatre, Jumblies); for film (Amnon Buchbinder, ClydeHenry Productions); and on music videos (So-called, The Belle Orchestre, Little Scream). Clea has taught puppetry as a visiting artist at Mcgill University, Concordia University, The Deer Crossing Art Farm (Gibsons B.C), and at M.a.i in Montreal.

In 2011 Clea was invited; to create the opening performance of the `‘!f The 2011 International Festival of Independent Film of Istanbul’; to conduct workshops in shadow puppetry with youth at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego; and to teach puppetry to children in Nunanvik. Her upcoming projects include: a collaboration with Director Atom Egoyan at the Canadian Opera Company; and the production of a full length solo performance, The Book of Thel, with the support of Le Tas de Sable, in Amiens France, and the Canada Council for the Arts.

In 2009, Clea was awarded the Simonovitch Protégé Prize by Simonovitch prize winner (Theatre Design), Ronnie Burkett. She has received research and experimentation grants, as well as production grants from both the Canada Council for the Arts (201o, 2011) and the Quebec Council for the Arts (2009).

Clea Minaker lives in Montreal and grew up on Vancouver Island in British Columbia.