Jamaal 'Black Root' Collier is an emcee, beatboxer, poet, master teaching artist actor, and host. With over 20 years of experience, he incorporates all aspects of his artistry in stage performances, residencies, and workshops. He has a charge to challenge his listeners to think carefully and critically. Affectionately & respectfully known as Mr. Root, Jamaal has a gift for making natural connections and truly listening to the needs of the students and the teachers with which he works. He cares deeply about people and helping them to achieve.
Tim received his training at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York City and has appeared on stage throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. For ten years, Tim served as a founding member of the Maryland-based clown theatre troupe Theatricks. He has appeared as a silent comic character for the Washington National Opera and the Maryland Lyric Opera.
SOLE Defined is the Washington Metro area’s leading arts organization specializing in percussive dance – using the body as an instrument to create musical expression. Advancing styles such as Tap, Stepping, Body Percussion, Sand Dance, and Gumboot; this BIPOC led company infuses powerful skill to delight and inspire audiences. SOLE Defined was founded under the joint leadership of Ryan Johnson and Quynn Johnson.
Founded in 1980, Black Cherry Puppet Theater has performed and presented puppetry-based activities to thousands across Maryland and the Mid Atlantic. The company is committed to the advancement of puppetry through collaborations with artists of other disciplines, presenting educational, as well as community-focused arts programming, and by sustaining a performance space that brings a very special theatrical experience to a growing and very diverse audience in “Baltimore’s coziest little theater.”