Puppeteer Profile: Laura Caldow ...

Laura has been a regular performer with Blind Summit since 2008 in productions including Madam Butterfly, Citizen Puppet, Le Rossignol and even took on one of our toughest roles - the feet of Moses in The Table. We caught up with her during rehearsals for the world's first immersive ballet with Will Tuckett...

Laura & Frippery

How did you start working with Blind Summit? 

I first worked with Blind Summit on Faeries at the Royal Opera House in 2008. I was cast as a dancer but ended up doing 2 of the puppet characters - Mrs Sands and Frippery. I loved it and found it very hard to put Frip back in his box at the end of the tour.

What's your most vivid puppet memory? 

There are so many! Highlights include Moses sitting on my head in a show in Florida, proposing to a lady in Switzerland, & romping with one of the actors at Second City in Chicago. Sorrow's leg falling off at the end of a Madam Butterfly show also springs to mind!

We hear you've recently been dancing in churches with a world class cellist. How was that? 

It was a project called Choreographing Bach with cellist Orlando Jopling and Director Fiona Clift, another Blind Summit associate. We wanted to make something where the cellist and dancer really interacted, and so we worked together throughout the devising period, which is really rare. We performed it in London & Colchester. I loved duetting with Orlando who is amazing, and playing with the audience who weren't accustomed to experiencing classical music in that way. We're hoping to tour the piece next year.

If you want any more information on Laura's work, check out:

www.lauracaldow.com