Romanian puppeteer, director, and teacher. In 1939, Dorina Tănăsescu joined Lucia Calomeri, actress and narrator, and helped establish the first string puppet (marionette) group. Their experience would become the core of the Teatrului Ţăndărică (Ţăndărică Puppet Theatre; today, Teatrul de animaţie Ţăndărică), founded in 1949.

Dorina Tănăsescu studied at the Academiei de Arte Frumoase (Academy of Fine Arts) in Bucharest. As a theatre artist she specialized in string puppetry, devoting her sensitivity, technical expertise, and imagination to the service of the many characters (more than one hundred) that she interpreted with passion and great mastery. She participated in research undertaken by director Margareta Niculescu, who was seeking a stylized gestural interpretation imbued with a sense of the “dramatic” which did not rely on spoken language. In 1954, the research was put to the test with the creation of the production, Povestea porcului (The Pig Story), an adaptation of a tale by Ion Creangă, directed by Margareta Niculescu and designed by Ioana Constantinescu. It was followed by: Căluțul cocoșat (The Little Hunchbacked Horse), directed by Nicolae Massim, puppets by Ioana Constantinescu; Humor pe sfori (Humour on Strings, 1954); Milioanele lui Arlequino (Harlequin’s Millions, 1967); Micul Prinț (The Little Prince, 1960); Cartea cu Apolodor (The Book of Apollodorus, 1963); among many other productions.

For her accomplishments, Dorina Tănăsescu received the Premiul de Stat al României (Romanian State Award), the Premiul pentru teatrul de păpusi (Puppet Theatre Award) bestowed by UNITER (Uniunea Teatrală din România Theatre Union of Romania), and the Premiul pentru excelență (Award for Excellence) bestowed by Tăndărică Puppet Theatre together with UNIMA Romania.

Dorina Tănăsescu also had a career in training Romanian professional puppeteers. She taught in Egypt and Syria where she staged several productions. In 1990, when the Department of Puppetry at the National University of Theatre Arts and Cinematography (UNATC, Universitatea Naţională de Artă Teatrală şi Cinematografică) in Bucharest was founded, she was invited to teach.

In 1976, Dorina Tănăsescu was nominated a Member of Honour of UNIMA (Union Internationale de la Marionnette International Union of Pupetry).

(See Romania.)