Workshops
Internships, laboratories and research residencies
TCHAÏKA
The Tchaïka Company organizes training and research activities every year.
The mission of the Tchaïka NPO is the creation of performances, as well as the research and transmission of skills related to the art of puppetry and masks.
Currently, the association has organized nearly 40 workshops and a dozen laboratories in 16 countries across Europe, America, Africa, and Asia. More than 650 artists from 45 different nationalities have participated in these projects. Other renowned Belgian and international artists also lead workshops organized by the association. Notable names include Jean-Michel d’Hoop, Michel Villée, Loïc Nebreda, Nicole Mossoux, Fabrice Rodriguez, and Emmanuelle Mathieu from Belgium, Tita Iacobelli (Chile), Duda Paiva (Netherlands), Eduardo Felix (Brazil), and Pablo Gershanik (Argentina).
Workshops 2026
Puppet by Julie Pion
Photo by Pierre-Yves Jortay
The Other
Wearable Puppet-Making Workshop led by Natacha Belova, assisted by Elise Reculeau
Practical Information
Dates: Monday 13 to Saturday 25 July 2026 (with two days off: Saturday 18 and Sunday 19)
Schedule: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM, with a one-hour lunch break
Location: Zinneke Asbl, Place Masui 13 – 1000 Brussels (Belgium)
Participation fee: €1200 (materials included)
Specific materials requested by participants (beyond those provided) are not included.
Meals, transport, and accommodation are at the participant’s expense.
Languages: French, Russian, and Spanish
Participants : maximum 15 participants
This workshop is intended for performing arts professionals, including puppeteers, actors, dancers, scenographers, and visual artists.
Application Process : Participants are selected based on an application submitted via the following form: Application form
Please include all required documents, as well as any additional material you consider relevant.
Application deadline: 30 May 2026
Results announced: 15 June 2026
For participants coming from abroad who need to organise their stay in advance (travel, accommodation, etc.), results can be communicated earlier upon request. Please mention this in your application.
The Workshop
This workshop focuses on the creation of wearable puppets, conceived as hybrid bodies interacting with their puppeteer, led by Natacha Belova.
Techniques: clay head sculpture, thermoplastic finishing, and foam body construction. The puppet’s mouth is not articulated.
Starting from a text or an image, participants explore the notion of “the Other” by creating and then animating a puppet head. The process begins with building a figure, where facial features, volumes, and expressions allow an initial presence of the Other to emerge. This figure is then brought into motion to develop character and intention. Through this process, participants learn how to give life to a figure and explore the relationship between body, object, and stage.
Content : The programme offers a complete journey, from creation to the early stages of performance. Participants explore various making techniques (sculpture, volume work, use of diverse materials) as well as the fundamentals of puppetry (focus, breathing, coordination, and quality of movement).
The use of materials—including recycled ones—encourages a wide field of experimentation.
At the end of the workshop, a photographer will create professional portraits of the puppets.
If you have any questions or would like more information: workshop@tchaika.art
Info Fund 304 : At present, we are unable to confirm whether Fund 304 will provide support for the workshops organised in 2026. Unfortunately, trainees are not able to submit an application for financial assistance to Fund 304.
Should the conditions change, trainees will be informed directly, and all relevant information regarding this support will be published on this page. In the event that support from Fund 304 is approved, trainees will be reimbursed for the portion covered by the fund.
As a reminder, financial support from Fund 304 may be requested by workers active in the performing arts sector (Joint Committee 304) in Wallonia or the Brussels region, who are currently employed in a position under JC 304, or who can demonstrate more than 30 days of employment with one or more French-speaking JC 304 employers over the past 24 months.
ONLINE WORKSHOP
Human-arm puppet creation workshop, by Natacha Belova
Plateform and information : belova.podia.com
Dates : You have access to all information and videos for one year from the day of registration
Fee : 150€
Language : English and French
Description : Through these 8 video capsules Natacha Belova will guide you through the process of making a human-arm puppet; from the original design to the first stage appearance.
The human-arm puppet is attached to the puppeteer’s waist and their legs and hands become those of the puppet. The bodies of the puppet and puppeteer combine into a single unit.
In these 8 video capsules, Natacha will be making a puppet for a project that she intends to stage. This is not just about sharing the secrets of puppet-making step-by-step, but it also involves serious considerations of meaning and form; which are an essential part of the process of making a puppet.
Fabrication method : the head will be sculpted out of clay and finished in Worbla (thermoplastic resin) and the body will be made from foam. For this first workshop the puppet’s mouth will not be articulated.
The process is divided up into the following steps : preparation (project, visual palette, outline sketches, materials); clay sculpture of the head (pattern, volume, proportions, the character’s personality); the eyes (either sculpted in the clay or made separately and added later); sculpting the hand; finishing the head in thermoplastics (covering with sheets of resin, finishing touches, fitting the eyes, fitting the control rod); making the body (cutting out the torso, the arms, assembly); making the neck, hair, painting; costume; stage testing with the actress/puppeteer Tita Iacobelli.
CONTACT
With
Wallonie-Bruxelles Théâtre Danse
Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles Arts de la scène
Wallonie-Bruxelles International
Commission Communautaire Française
