
Karen Montanaro is a world-renowned dancer and mime artist, an award-winning choreographer, and the innovator of "mimedance" (the fusion of two classical art forms).
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Karen currently tours the world with her one-woman show entitled "Tanzspiel." Karen is a teaching artist and offers residencies in movement, mime and dance in public and private schools throughout the United States. She studied ballet at the Cantarella School of Dance, the Ram Island Dance Center and on scholarship with the Joffrey Ballet School. Karen danced professionally with the Ohio Ballet and the Darmstadt Opera Ballet in Germany. For more than a decade, Karen toured and taught internationally with her husband and teacher, mime master Tony Montanaro. 
In 2008 Karen was awarded an Individual Artist Fellowship grant from the Maine Arts Commission. Donna McNeil, director of the arts commission, wrote:
"Our distinguished panel of judges was impressed with Karen's phenomenal technique and control but most importantly they recognized that Karen has fused her prodigious skill in both mime and dance into a new art form, using the body as a descriptive tool -- painterly, narrative and lyrical."
Click to read more about:
- Tanzspiel Performances
- Karen's Resumé
- Maine Arts Commission Fellowship
- Sample Program
- Presenter Resources (Video Clips, Publicity Photos, Press Releases, Posters, School Study Guide, Etc.)
- Testimonials
- Booking Information
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(Video Clip: 3 Minute Demo)
(Video Clip: 11 Minute Demo)

A Visit to Sanford (News Article)
Photocredit: Argy Nestor

Bringing Magic (News Article)
Photocredit: Times Record
School Assemblies Click Here!
Photocredit: The Sun Journal


A Dance To Touch The Soul
Concerts CLICK HERE!
Workshops CLICK HERE!
Presenter Resources CLICK HERE!
Karen with Marcel Marceau
Read More in "Backstage"