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Basil Twist, hailing from San Francisco, carries on a legacy as a third-generation puppeteer. He is notably the only American graduate of the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts de la Marionnette (ESNAM) located in Charleville-Mézières, France. His diverse body of work encompasses productions such as Symphonie Fantastique, Petrushka, Rite of Spring, Hansel & Gretel, Arias with a Twist, La Bella Dormente nel Bosco, Sisters Follies and A Streetcar Named Desire (where he also served as co-director for La Comédie Française). Additionally, he collaborated with Les Arts Florissants on TITON et l'AURORE at the Opera Comique and Theatre Royal de Versailles, as well as The Book of Mountains and Seas composed by Huang Ruo, where he worked as designer and director. 

Currently, he holds the position of puppetry designer and director for My Neighbour Totoro, which is currently running on London's West End. In the realm of film, he contributed to the visual enchantment of Alfonso Cuarón's Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, notably designing the Dementors. His accolades include an Obie, a Henry Hewes Award, recognition as a Doris Duke Performing Artist, the Creative Capital Award, support from the Asian Arts Council, numerous UNIMA and Bessie Awards, a Guggenheim Fellowship, a MacArthur Fellowship, and the Rome Prize. Presently, he is the Roth Family Visiting Scholar at Dartmouth College. Since 1999, he has been the Artistic Director of Dream Music Puppetry at HERE in New York City.