Watching Joseph Cashore’s marionettes is like stepping back in time, before mass production, when craftsmanship breathed life into inanimate objects. His characters are emotive, flawed, graceful, and complex. When Cashore was a young boy, he saw a vibrant pirate marionette in a New Jersey gift shop. Despite his shyness, he worked up the courage to ask the shopkeeper if he could hold it, but was denied. Undeterred by this initial discouragement, he went home and created his own out of scrap materials and became fascinated with how he was able to convincingly personify the contraption through a flowing series of gestures. He has since developed a reputation for his keen observation and expression of movement and currently tours worldwide, bringing his characters to life in joyful, nuanced, and captivating ways. Cashore will be bringing his marionettes to UW-Eau Claire to perform Life in Motion. This full-length performance pulls audience members into the journey of everyday life, set to music by Beethoven, Vivaldi, Strauss, and Copland. Adults, young and old, will appreciate this performance, but it is not recommended for very young children.