Meet Daniel

I’m on a mission to help teams create and collaborate better together.

I know you want to make work that matters in the world, and that feels good to create. At the crux of achieving that kind of positive change-making contribution is a functional, fabulous team dynamic. And that’s something to be tended. 

Shadow theater is a medium that can support a strong team dynamic to root and rise. It’s experiential, participatory, collaborative, accessible, fresh, unexpected, and visually dramatic. And it fosters a creativity that belongs to everyone. 

I’ve worked nationally with hundreds of institutions and teams, first in formal and informal educational settings, and now with companies and other organizations. I have a Masters in Education from New York University. For 10 years, I’ve been one of 50 artists selected from across the country to serve on the renowned John F. Kennedy Center’s National Teaching Artist Roster.

I love seeing how the pull of focused creativity lets teams integrate ideas along with a sense of themselves as collaborative partners, in a way that training and reminders can’t always achieve. Teams find themselves working through and with artistic and technical challenges, and that experience and accomplishment become a resource to draw on going forward.  

What keeps me excited about my work: seeing how teams are changed by this encounter with shadow theater. 

I don’t just want to introduce your team to a new-to-you magical art form, but to new ways of seeing and working with each other. I commit to bringing wisdom, humor, and expert facilitation into the mix. My goal is for your team to glimpse and enjoy new insights and working relationships that are honest, human, lasting, and transformative.

—Daniel Barash, Founder and Director, Firelight