Tanzspiel (German for "dance play") is a one-woman tour de force celebrating the expressive potential of the human body. Karen Montanaro blends the arts of mime and dance to create theater with rare physical and emotional power.



One moment an old gunslinger reminisces about his youth, the next an entire baseball game plays out in front of you. The full evening concert includes original works by Karen Montanaro, by mime master Tony Montanaro, and by renowned dancers and choreographers Louis Gervais and Clay Taliaferro.

Karen in "The Hunter & the Tiger"

"A fusion of mime and dance that delights the senses and the spirit; a poignancy that never loses its hard comic edge."

- Barbara Richmond, Halifax Dance, Canada

"Karen Montanaro... has brought the fusion of pantomime and dance to it's highest level of expressiveness."

- Main Echo, Hanau, Germany


Click to read more about:

- Karen Montanaro
- Sample Program
- Presenter Resources
- What they're saying...
- Booking Information


Recent Article on Karen's Performing:

Mime Delights Audience With Medley of Characters - Animal And Human Alike
(Reprinted from The Lincoln County News)


Maine Arts Commission Fellowship

Recently, Karen was awarded a Maine Arts Commission Individual Artist Fellowship Grant.

photo by Donald Verger

Click here to read more about Karen's premiere of her new work "The Struggle to Be," a collaboration with sculptor Dennis Dreher.


Performance Venues:

In addition to acclaimed tours of Germany, Japan, Taiwan, Italy, Canada, and Spain, a few of Karen Montanaro's performance highlights include:

Great Gulf Coast Arts Festival, Pensacola, FL
Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute
Aruba Dance Festival, Aruba
Holland America Line Cruise Ships
Nyack College, Nyack, NY
Towson University, Towson, MD
First Night Boston, Boston, MA
Portland Performing Arts Center, Portland, ME
Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, PA
Palestinian National Theatre, Israel

Click here for booking information

"Last Friday evening my wife, Susan, and I drove through soul cleansing rain to Denmark, Maine to see dancer and mime Karen Montanaro present her one woman show, Tanzspiel. Some performers strive to overwhelm their audiences with the dazzle of their art, and even though I'm often happy to go along for the ride, I usually end up feeling I was somewhat manipulated into my responses. Much more satisfying are the times when an open hearted performer like Karen takes a more back and forth approach, and asks us to come along on a journey through her little piece of the world, exalting with her as we take in the wonders of the place. That evening of course, the greatest wonder was her movement - head to toe displays of precision and subtlety, all drawn out with little reverberations and after-images that impinge themselves into the memory. As a matter of fact if I close my eyes right now I can still see the facial distortions of her gum chewing baseball players, or watch the twists and turns of the tiger and the hunter as they ripple through her body, or perhaps best of all, see her dancing almost weightless while perched on a stool and looking for all the moon like some sort of human lunar module hovering just above the surface of a new world. Wow, Karen, what an evening! And afterward when we stepped outside? Wouldn't you know it, the rain was gone and the world was indeed new."

-Michael Cooper
Maskmaker & Touring Artist, Chesterville, Maine