Vanessa Ellis

Vanessa Ellis works in theatre, film, and television as a Puppeteer, Choreographer, Designer, and fabricator specialising in Puppet design. 

With a passion for visual theatre and storytelling, Vanessa segued from dance to puppetry in 1998 and has been devising, constructing, and performing puppetry for the last 25 years. Her independent work draws inspiration from mythology and folklore and is a hybrid of dance, puppetry, and visual-based storytelling.  

Designing and building in soft sculptural forms, tactile and handbuilt materials inform her design style. Over the years she has shifted into creating with earth friendlier materials and where possible up-cycle, hand dye, and felt fibers.    

Vanessa has been fortunate to work with many companies and directors who incorporate puppetry. This relationship has taken her all over the world performing in many festivals and events. Performing with puppets from the miniature to the large and very large. Styles of puppetry include Rod, Tabletop, Shadow, Glove, Marionette, Animatronic film and Arena, festival roving, and body puppets.

Credits include a Two-year stint through Europe, Australia, and Asia as a Voodoo animatronics puppeteer on “The Arena Spectacular of Walking with Dinosaurs”, Puppet designer and fabricator for AIME Mentoring, Puppeteer and maker for A Blank Canvas, Puppet designer and fabricator for award-winning series “No Strings attached” Green Bean Pictures, Puppeteer and maker for Victorian Opera, Puppeteer and maker for Opera Australia, Full-time position within the skins department with The Creature Technology Company, Various productions as a puppeteer and maker for both Windmill Performing Arts and  Patch Theatre Company, Puppeteer for Terrapin, Maker, performer, and workshop assisting for Polyglot, Puppeteer for Black Hole, Costume and floats for The Moomba Parade, Puppeteer for Puppet Vision, Assistant to the director of puppetry for The Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony.

In 2006 Vanessa participated in a 9 week Master Class with Philippe Genty and Mary Underwood, this culminated in a public performance season.

Vanessa currently is the head of Puppetry at AIME mentoring. She designs and makes and wrangles the Professors and their puppeteers. Fondly known as the puppetry overlord.