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Jason Yancey

Jason Yancey is a puppet builder and performer, specializing in educational, historical, and Spanish language applications.

Jason Yancey is a cofounder of the Dragoncillo Puppet Troupe, an experienced director and translator of early modern Spanish theatre, and an Associate Professor of Spanish at Grand Valley State University, specializing in Theater. His teaching and scholarship regularly blends language, literature, culture, performance, and outreach. Since 2010 he has taught a puppetry course where advanced students in Spanish learn to read and analyze children’s literature while they write and produce original puppet shows in Spanish, culminating in several weeks of performances for local Spanish immersion elementary schools. He is a recipient of GVSU’s Pew Excellence in Teaching Award (2015), with nearly 20 years of experience building and performing with puppets for diverse audiences in the United States and Mexico.

The view from backstage during a performance by the Dragoncillo Puppet Troupe, 2019
“We’re all mad here”
Essay

“We’re all mad here”

An Exploration of the Spaces of Puppetry

5 April 2021

Esther Fernández and Jason Yancey introduce their series, Where Puppets Move, sharing how the 2020 conference “Puppet Theatre: In the Beginning Were Puppets” at the Salzburg Marionette Theatre inspired their questions about reimagined performance spaces.

Where Puppets Move
A presentation during the Puppet Theatre conference in Salzburg, Austria, 2020. Philippe Brunner (center), director of the Salzburg Marionette Theatre, displays one of the oldest puppets in the company’s collection, while Barabara Heuberger (left) describes the figure’s history and significance, joined onstage by Piero Corbella (right).
Series

Where Puppets Move

The events surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic have dragged performers into a sort of ideological rabbit hole, entirely dislocated from the artifice and audiences that comprise the more familiar theatrical experience.