Ingrid Hansen

Raised by gregarious Danish immigrants, Ingrid is a television puppeteer, voice-over actor, and theatre creator. Most recently, Ingrid plays Heart, a lovable agender orange monster on Helpsters, Sesame Workshop's new series for AppleTV+. She also puppeteered Gertie the Gopher for four seasons of Tiga Talk (APTN), and appeared on Miss Persona (Treehouse TV), Princess Sparkly Butt and The Hot Dog Kid (Teletoon), Singalong with Tobee, Caitie's Classroom, Mr. Monkey, Monkey Mechanic and Tongue Twisters with Twyla. In 2006 she co-founded SNAFU Dance Theatre. With SNAFU, Ingrid has co-authored and produced 21 live shows including Little Orange Man, Kitt & Jane, Interstellar Elder, Table Top Tales, Snack Music and The Merkin Sisters. SNAFU's work has cumulatively garnered over 20 awards, countless five star reviews, and has been presented by the National Arts Centre, The Belfry Theatre, SummerWorks Festival, The Great Canadian Theatre Centre, The Centaur Theatre, and festivals across Canada. She also creates theatre behind bars with prisoners. Young audiences are Ingrid's favorite. Touring across the country, she has taught and performed in hundreds of schools, from wide-eyed kindergarten kids to world-weary grade twelves. She spent several semesters as an artist-in-residence at Fraser Mustard School, coaching children to author and perform their own made-up stories with Theatre Direct's Firefly Project. Theatre Direct commissioned Hansen to co-create a surreal object-puppetry show called Lost & Found, of which children said, "It's magic," and "She's a witch!" Her interactive puppetry workshop was a hit at Junior, Toronto's International Children's Festival, and she puppeteered for several years with Theatre Direct's Dora-Award-Winning show The Old Man and the River. From the role of Marie Antoinette to a grass-munching sheep, Ingrid performed physical comedy with Corpus Theatre in Canada, the US, and Japan. Hansen earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Theatre at the University of Victoria.