Involvement Theater programs have been used with Maryland County Office of Aging sites, preK-12 public & private schools, College & University Student Activities, after school and No Child Left Behind programs. The programs are adapted to the participating age level including special needs and at-risk populations. Residencies, teacher in-service, family/parenting programs, music song writing and creative drama workshops are also available. Please call for funding options.
Snowday was founded in early 2008 with the mission of bringing a cappella and vocal music into mainstream education. The group loves bringing a dose of fun to community and private events. As part of the Artivate roster, Snowday travels to dozens of schools each year and members are very active in the local, national and international a cappella communities. While they spend a lot of time touring U.S. schools, they have also traveled internationally, including a trip to Russia as Arts Envoys with the U.S. Department of State.
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.”
OUR MISSION AND MANDATE
Lesole Dance Project (LDP) seeks to empower youth and community members to engage in healthy, creative self-expression by providing educational arts programming and opportunities for cultural exchange.
Working in the United States and South Africa, LDP promotes the unique movement vocabulary and choreographic style inspired by the Southern African heritage, and faciltates learning spaces that honour Black artistic excellence.
Kwame Shaka Opare is a classically trained West African dancer with an MFA in Dance from the University of Maryland. At 14, he became a principal dancer with Kankouran West African Dance Company (Washington DC). As a young adult, Kwame Shaka moved to New York where he established himself as a dynamic instructor and choreographer. In the late 90s, he began touring with the Broadway show STOMP, in the lead role and as rehearsal director where he remained for 8 years.
SSUUNA: Is a dancer, percussionist, singer, songwriter, storyteller, and recording artist from Uganda with a wide range of performing experience. Raised in a small village by grandparents, He found comfort in the Ugandan traditional music that was played at school. As a result, his musical influence was born, thus encouraged, natured, and reinforced by his elders through proverbs, stories, songs, dances, and instrumentation. This bestowed priceless cultural entertainment, which proved to be educational as well as alleviating of the poverty, hunger, hopelessness, and suffering that SSUUNA
Valerie Branch graduated magna cum laude from the University of Maryland College Park with a Bachelor’s Degree in Dance. She has experience touring as a performing and teaching artist both nationally and internationally. Valerie has brought dance into schools throughout South Africa, India, and St. George’s, Grenada, and has received an invitation from the Danish Embassy to participate in a Cultural Arts Program Exchange Visit to Denmark.