Katrina started out as the Queen of Rockland.  Five years old in the back yard, overseeing her, moss-covered granite subjects. Up the hill and toward the lake was Circus Town, complete with a rocket ship, wooden horse and a carousel that spun only when her eyes were closed.  Tubland, what felt like half a day’s journey to the east, made for excellent fort construction and quiet philosophical inquiry.

 

Audra woke in the morning to the the cardboard silhouette of the Chrysler Building leaning against her hammock bed. She replaced it kindly, greeting the New York skyline and the creatures she had made, strewn about her Kansas bedroom. She had work to do, real work; 7-year-old work. There was the VHS recorder to be mastered, monster cupcakes to bake and a radio station to get off the ground. 

 

While working with a circus in New York, Katrina learned of a woman teaching puppetry in a senior citizen center. She reached out to Audra, a talented artist and film-maker, who ignited Katrina’s burgeoning interest in puppetry. The class spoke mostly Spanish - a slight problem for Audra, whose German, Greek and broken French only made her seem more eccentric. The connection was made. Katrina translated and learned puppetry. The two of them began fabricating and creating story lines for the circus. They went on to create immersive theater experiences for children in New Hampshire - returning to the rocket ship, the now mossier rocks and tubbier tubs of Katrina’s childhood. 

 

When the opportunity came in 2014 to collaborate on a summer program for children, Audra moved West from New York. Nestled in the valley, amidst prairie dogs, ponderosa pines and the boundless sky of Colorado, Storycamp (Dangercamp) was born.