I got my start touring as a comic juggler (featured at Edmonton’s International Street Performer Festival in Canada). Street performing heightened the immediacy of connecting to audiences, skills which I bring into my work on stage and screen.

For almost 30 years, I’ve been working as a puppetry artist in Minneapolis. In 1998, I co-founded Z Puppets Rosenschnoz (with creative partner Shari Aronson). Touring nationally, our inventive mix of whimsical humor, puppetry and music has earned many prestigious awards and national acclaim. Most importantly, many children and parents report back that they continue talking about our shows for years afterwards. I am excited to bring this power of playfulness into video to amplify the impact of my work and reach wider audiences.

As an enrolled tribal member of the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma, I am now responding to the Cherokee declaration of emergency for our endangered language. Although I have lived most of my life outside the region, I am the first in three generations of my family to study the language. Say It! Sing It! Play It! In Cherokee is how I bring myself as an artist into the urgent effort to keep alive this endangered indigenous language.

Behold! The Power of Playfulness.