Lydia Lukidis is also a multidisciplinary artist who has a passion for creation and visual arts on many levels. She has explored such mediums as writing, performing, designing, painting, drawing, ceramics, and printmaking over the years. She studied English Literature at McGill University and received her Bachelor of Arts, and has written numerous poems and short stories, some of which were published.  She also founded her own jewellery company and label in 1999, is trained in silver and goldsmithing, wax carving, and gemology. Her award winning work is widely recognized in the fashion industry.

Lydia has been working with Christopher since 2006, and her experience in carving, metal construction, writing and visual arts all contribute to helping her create in the medium of puppetry. In addition to co-writing and co-producing all the plays, she also designs and creates the props, backdrops, and costumes.

Her vision consistently comes from a deeply spiritual place; her work encompasses all that is divine and sacred, and explores the realm of the esoteric and sacred art. In general, the intention behind her work seeks to awaken, inspire, and heal. Her personal mandate as an artist has always been to spread love and light.  

Christopher Godziuk is a multidisciplinary artist, who has been trained in the mediums of writing, dance, theatre, puppetry and video. He aims to research and apply innovative techniques to marionette theatre.  His vision is to produce work that combines these mediums through story, thus creating a stimulating and imaginative experience for the audience. Christopher’s desire as an artist is to help people see the beauty of life through art.

Before founding Panadream Theatre with Lydia, Christopher studied theatre from 1997 to 2000 at the Grande Prairie Regional college and at the Universtiy of Lethbridge. From 2000-2003, Christopher co-founded a marionette company called Peanut Butter Productions.  During these years, Christopher helped write and direct the stories, build props, stages and over 20 sixteen string marionettes, as well as design and market the productions. In 2003-2006, Christopher completed a BFA degree in Contemporary Dance through Concordia University in Montreal.  While at Concordia, Christopher studied creative process, choreography, movement technique, music and video.

Christopher is now integrating all the skills he acquired over the years into his work with Panadream Theatre.

Past projects (selected)

Festivals
February 2010 and 2009: Montreal Highlights Festival- Nuit Blanche (shows)
September 2009: Les Journées de la Culture (workshops)
August 2009: La Fête des Enfants (shows)
July 2009: Montreal International Jazz Festival (shows and workshops)
May 2009: Toronto International Circus Festival (shows)

Tours & theatre runs
March & May 2010, November 2009: toured Forkman in Ottawa, at various libraries, schools and the Canadian Museum of Civilization
January 2009: performed a short shadow puppet piece, Boing, for the Shorter & Sweeter cabaret at La Sala Rosa
December 2008- January 2009: toured Forkman in Alberta, at various schools, community centers and senior homes
November 2008: premiered Forkman at Montreal’s Geordie Theatre

Contract work
October 2009: Bread & Puppet Theatre's show, the Lubberland National Dance Company in "13 Dirt Cheap Cathedrals” (performed in show)
April 2009: Cirque du Soleil (collaborated on marionette design and choreography, and manipulated puppets for a special event)
April 2008: Vue sur la Relève (performed puppet choreography in a dance piece for Emmanuelle Calvé)
November 2007: Music artist Feist’s concert tour (collaborated with Clea Minaker; created shadow puppets and built shadow puppet projection table used during tour)
September 2007: Danse Buisonnière at Tangente Theatre (collaborated with Emmanuelle Calvé; built and designed a marionette used in a dance piece, and manipulated the puppet during the performance.)
July 2007: Cirque du Soleil (collaborated with artistic director Michel Laprise on a two day private performance, and created custom design puppets and choreography)
June 2007: Moment Factory (collaborated on a shadow puppet video)
June 2007: Moment Factory (created costumes for the opening party of Cirque du Soleil’s “Love” show opening in Las Vegas)

Charity & Community work
September 2009: Festival Les Journées de la Culture- Sortez pour la Rentrée (gave 2 free puppet making workshops for children in elementary schools)
June 2009: Aspire 4 Kids Foundation (gave a free marionette show for a benefit for autistic children)

Shows and Workshops for Schools, Libraries, Daycares, Camps, Community centres (selected)
West Island Jewish Community Centre, multiple Montessori schools, Jewish Public Library, Atwater Children’s Library, Big Step Daycare, Garderie Antonietta, West Island Daycare, Ville de Montreal- Arrondissement Ville-Marie, Children’s Corner Daycare, Razmataz daycare, Ben Weider Jewish Community Centre, CPE du Y, Dante School, Carlyle school, , Côte Saint-Luc Public Library,  Mademoiselle Pinky, Pointe-Claire Cultural Centre, St-Pierre library, Saul Bellow library, City of Mount-Royal community centre, Ile Bizard Library, Camp Chabad Gan Israel, Club des Vacances St-Kevin, multiple Dollard Des Ormeaux Day Camps, Mediterranean Shipping Company, YWHA summer camps, Muskoseepi Park (Grande Prairie), Heritage Lodge (Grande Prairie),Counterpoint Academy (Ottawa), Meadowlands Public school (Ottawa), Ottawa Jewish Library (Ottawa),  Museum of Civilizations (Ottawa), Reksap School Age Program (Ottawa), Governor's Walk (Ottawa), Bayview Public school (Ottawa), École Catholique St-Marie (Ottawa)

Grants/Awards
-May 2008: Awarded a grant from the Fondation du maire de Montreal pour la Jeunesse in collaboration with Youth Employment Services- for the promotion and dissemination of a marionette show, Forkman

Panadream Theatre is dedicated to creating quality theatre and workshops for young audiences, and aims to help cultivate children’s imagination and creativity. By exposing children to marionette theatre and the art of puppet building, the team seeks to stimulate their imagination, stir their emotions, and open their hearts. Panadream Theatre is committed to producing shows that are not only entertaining, but also educational and interactive, that compel their audience to laugh, think and feel. In addition, the puppet creation workshops are designed to engage and inspire the children, as well as activate their artistic potential.

Role Within the Artistic Community

Panadream Theatre is an active member of the Association Québécoise des Marionnettistes, and of the Union Internationale de la Marionnette, which are puppetry organizations that help bring the community of puppeteers together. They are also active members of the organizations Playwright’s Workshop Montreal, and English Language Arts Network.

Panadream Theatre is community oriented and gets involved in festivals, charity events and other special cultural events that expose the public to art. They regularly give free workshops and shows for benefits and charities, and are always interested in promoting art with outreach programs for underprivileged children. They feel driven to keep the ancient tradition of string puppetry alive.

Christopher Godziuk has been working in the field of puppetry since 2000 before founding Panadream Theatre in 2007 with Lydia Lukidis. The company specializes in traditional string marionettes, but also explores other mediums of puppetry. They design and build all of their unique marionettes, sets, and props, and they write their own stories, and tour their shows. Christopher and Lydia also create and manipulate puppets for use in mediums such as film, video, and musical performances.

Panadream Theatre focuses on theatre for young audiences, and produces plays for children aged 2 to 12 and their families. These are ideal for festivals, schools, daycares, summer camps, corporate events, private birthday parties and other special events. In addition, they also offer puppet making, manipulation and theatre workshops for children and teens. In each workshop, the students are guided to create their own unique puppets, and are able to play with their creations behind a professional puppet theatre stage.

Panadream Theatre has presented their work at the Montreal International Jazz Festival, Toronto International Circus Festival, Montreal High Lights Festival- Nuit Blanche, La Fête des Enfants, and Les Journées de la Culture de Montréal among others, and they have collaborated on independent projects for Cirque du Soleil, Moment Factory, and musical artist Feist’s concert tour to name a few.