From character design to puppet confection, from the decoration design to the storytelling writing, my characters followed me from Chile to Québec, where I remained true to my passion and I continued my education by founding a puppet theatre company.

A dream is magical when one has the ability to make one’s dreams come true, but above all, to share one’s dreams.

A résumé is a résumé.  Through it, the reader will know everything about you.  It is the “so-called” x-ray of your “so-called” professional path in life, which contains the “so-called” important things that measure your success.  This document does not contain trivial information such as your favourite colour, your favourite movie, your favourite comic strip, your favourite pet, the favourite moment of your life, your favourite dreams or how you feel when things do not go the way you want them to.

It is funny, because answering these questions, your boss could know what kind of person he is hiring or the reason why he is not hiring you.  I do not want to start a discussion on the subject, but, following the example society sets for everyone, I hereby present my résumé, written in my own way, after all, who can prevent me from writing it on my own terms?

I was born on July 16 in Santiago de Chile and I spent my first fourteen years in a little town called Lo Barnechea, about an hour or so from the city. This distance, which seemed like a long journey when I was a kid, kept me away from the busy life of the city, and my games were developed on the countryside boundaries. It was often to see farm animals such as cows, horses, donkeys, hens, roosters and dogs. Yes, especially dogs.  It seems like I always had a spoiled dog next to me.

My town had two schools and I went to one of them: the Santa Rosa de Lima School (religious of course).  However, teacher nuns were, as I now understand it, quite progressive and thanks to those nuns my personality changed quite a bit when I was able to grasp the message they were trying to give us.

One of my favourite activities in school was when a small puppet company visited us.  They used to cast a spell on me with their stories and anecdotes.  Stories like Hansel and Gretel, The Shoe repairer (cobbler), Rapunzel, Little red riding hood, etc., were presented by these small characters that seemed magical at the moment, and why not, seem magical still.  I started giving my puppet shows to all my little classmates since I was in kindergarten, standing on a small stool (my parents gave me the puppets).  This is how I became the school puppeteer, then the town puppeteer, where I presented my puppet shows wherever it was possible or during a school festival.  This happened during my elementary school years, from 1968 to 1975.

In 1976, my family and I went to Viña del Mar.  There I studied at the Liceo Industrial de Valparaíso from 1976 and 1979, where I obtained my secondary studies diploma.  Completely convinced that studying at an industrial college was a mistake, I finished my studies and returned to Santiago, where I began my Tourism studies in EDECTI (Escuela de Ciencias Turísticas e Idiomas) from 1981 to 1983.  During that time, the possibility to continue with the theatre or with puppets remained on hold, if not forgotten, since it was not a career path.  I started to work and after a few years in which I became independent both economically and personally, I went on to studying theatre in the Juan Edmundo González Workshops (National Theatre Award in Chile) from 1992 to 1994.  Later on, from 1995 to 1996, I became a member of the Subterráneo Company, which was created at the Juan Edmundo Workshops.  I was able to be a part of different theatre productions, including La última conversación.  This play was presented during the Chilean Theatre Festival, organized by the Subterráneo Company.

In 1996 I decided to move to Québec, Montréal, where I studied the French language in different schools, while working in any job that came along in order to face my new life in wonderful Montréal.  It was in 1997 when the puppet idea came back and hit me hard; it was then when I seriously developed this calling.  In December 15, 2001, I presented my first puppet show and in 2002 I founded Le Paravent.Marionettes.  From then on, I concentrated all my energy in this project and I obtained the financial help from the Emploi Québec program Soutien Travail Autonome (STA), whose formation was in charge by SAJE Montréal Metro. This has allowed me to work for a whole year in order to set the foundations of what Le Paravent.Marionnettes is, and will be.

In April 2001 and February 2002, I also participated as a mime in the community projects of Leitmotiv and L’Histoire de l’oie, both from the theatre company of Les Deux Mondes. This was an extraordinary experience that filled me with satisfaction.

In 2002, I took the Initiation à la marionette Course, taught by the professor Michel Fréchette, at the Université du Québec à Montréal.

In 2003, I participated in the creation of the Du concept à la réalité Workshop, organized by the Association québécoise des marionnettistes (AQM). Professor Patrick Martel taught this workshop, which was funded by Emploi Québec.

In 2004, I participated in the Workshop L'objet-marionnette au service d'une expression primitive, organized by AQM.  The workshop was given by François Lazaro (Director, interpreter, French author and Artistic Director of Clastic Théâtre and Laboratoire Clastic de Clichy, France) and it was funded by Emploi Québec.