Pantomime
Covenants Ensemble Pantomime Workshop
When a developer proposed new plans for Northwood Plaza in 2015, the community fractured. Different groups had different visions — and those tensions followed familiar lines of race, geography, and power.
In response, SNAP “civic arts” team members didn’t organize another meeting. SNAP! organized a creative process. Under the direction of Dody DiSanto (Center of Movement Theatre), The Covenants ensemble devised a pantomime performance at All Saints Lutheran Church that showcased the perspective of Black women leaders who resisted what was “unfair redevelopment plans for Northwood Plaza.” With a series of workshops listening to residents, the ensemble captured the voices, gestures, and perspectives of various meetings to create a kind of "choreo-poem” that became a piece in the larger production collage of Covenants.
Northwood Plaza Pantomime
Physical Theatre
SNAP! has used physical theatre and pantomime to build community since its very beginning. In the summer of 2015, SNAP! partnered with Kolleen Kintz and Bobby Kintz to put on a camp for children from Northwood and Northeast Baltimore. Kolleen and Bobby studied at Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre in 2010 and wanted to share what they learned about theater being a vulnerable, powerful, fun, expressive art form with young people. Only six children attended the first camp, but in 2016 and 2017 the camp grew much larger and become a program of the James E. Lewis Museum of Art - Youth Arts Institute (YAI). After each camp, a showcase was hosted at Morgan State University’s Murphey Fine Arts Center Recital Hall so the children could share what they learned with the community.
