École Nationale Supérieure des Arts de la Marionnette, ESNAM (1987)

Founded in 1987, under the authority of the French Ministry of Culture, in Charleville-Mézières, in the Ardennes, The Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts de la Marionnette is dedicated to basic training of actor-puppeteers. it is the first and only school in this domain on our territroy, it welcomes both french and foreign students. At the end of the three-year course students are awarded a DMA (state Diplôme des Métiers des Arts de la marionnette). Over the years it has established itself as a creative centre that encourages crossdisciplinary cooperation between authors, visual artists, stage designers and figures from the theatre and new performing arts. It is also a place of permanent research into contemporary stage craft. The school is recognised for the quality of its teaching as a center of higher education. Another important feature of the School is that it is an integral part of the Institut International de la Marionnette, set up in 1981as the result of a joint effort by the Municipality of Charleville-Mézières, the Departemental Council of Ardennes, the Regional Council of Champagne-Ardenne, the Ministry of Culture and the Union Internationale de la Marionnette (UNIMA). ESNAM maintains an active relationship with higher education institutions for the professional training of pupeteers around the world. It originated the International Convention Puppetry Schools (CIEM : Convention Internationale des Ecoles de Marionnette), which was signed in 1990 in Charleville-Mézières during the first Rencontre Internationale des Ecoles de Marionnettes.