Valeska Maria Populoh

"Toad Eyes" is an illustrated story inspired by my experience with a volunteer-led, annual toad ferry organized by Lisa Lewenz since 1999 to help amphibians cross a busy street and light rail track in northern Baltimore. The piece connects this collaborative effort to other actions in support of vulnerable communities as “practices of hope” (Mariame Kaba and Kelly Hayes). The crankie includes original watercolor collage illustrations and shadow play. The score is composed and performed by Marian Mc Laughlin, with puppeteering and crankie assistance by Peter Redgrave.

Riparia is an ongoing performance project motivated by my interest in storytelling as a potent and ancient form of popular edutainment. Specifically, I am interested in how storytelling and interactive performance generate curiosity and exchange between performer and audience, and allow participants to learn more about the place they inhabit.

Riparia conducts ‘Web of Life Card Readings’ using a (still-evolving) deck of cards, emblazoned with images representing ecological and political themes.  Tapping into popular interest in ‘fortune-telling’, Riparia does not claim to augur the future. Rather, the act of pulling cards effects a temporary, introspective space in which people are guided in responding to the images, reflecting on their relationship to the land, to their communities and to the forces of destruction and restoration. Riparia also utilizes a hand-sewn map of the Chesapeake Watershed and a small theater set inside an oyster shell (‘The Pearl’) to share stories about the history and ecology of this bioregion and explore people’s relationships to the Chesapeake and the bodies of water near their place of birth.

This performance has been shared as both an intimate one for one or two people at a time (photos by Ana Tantaros of Side A Photography) or as a collective card reading for larger audiences (photos by Laura Ferrara at the Current Space Gallery in Baltimore, MD in 2024). 

“The Holey Land” is an allegory about the powerful connection between people and the place they call home.  In this tale, the Peninsula People and the magic in their land are threatened when a stranger shows up with big ideas for ‘improving’ their community. As storybook images scroll by, the peninsula gets devoured by buildings and factories, and the Peninsula People are left to ponder the fate of their land.  The story ends with a surprising twist, and a hopeful message about a community’s ability to determine their own future.

Told using a crankie, or wooden box that contains a long scroll of paper with illustrations.  the story is inspired by the environmental history of the Fairfield Peninsula, near Curtis Bay in south Baltimore. Once fertile land that supplied produce to the booming metropolis of Baltimore, and later home to company towns and tight knit communities, the peninsula was transformed by opportunistic development, and devoured by heavy industry in the 20th century.  

The 15-minute story is appropriate for all ages.

by Valeska Populoh in collaboration with Free Your Voice and an original score by ellen cherry

This project was conceived in 2015, in the context of a grassrootscampaign to oppose the construction of the nation’s largest trash-burning incinerator in a community in south Baltimore. The Holey Land was developed as a way to engage communities in conversations about this issue and proactively develop positive alternatives for energy production and job creation in the economically depressed area. In collaboration with community organizers from Free Your Voice, a youth-chapter of the human rights organization United Workers, we toured through Baltimore, performing at community centers, festivals, schools, libraries, and conferences.  The permit for the construction of the incinerator was revoked by the Department of the Environment in June of 2016, marking a huge victory for the campaign and for community self-determination.

“The Garment Worker’s Tale” follows the journey of a young immigrant who leaves her home country to seek her fortune in America.  The story is inspired by historic accounts of garment workers at the end of the 19th century in Baltimore and New York City, and by events like the Triangle Shirt Waist Factory Fire. The puppets are based on archival photos of immigrants and garment workers of the time, and the buildings and on historic street scenes of Baltimore.   There is no dialogue or spoken narrative. The performance is accompanied only by a real time, electronic score created and assembled by Baltimore-based composers Jonah Beram and Patrick McMinn. There is no spoken text.  Musical motifs for the characters were adapted from songs written in Baltimore by immigrant composers of the period. These fragments were developed into set pieces that play through the performance. A series of audio collages provide atmospheric backing. These are crafted by a custom software that stitches together recordings of small domestic objects in real time.  (approximate length: 15 minutes, appropriate for all ages.)

Charm City Merfolk is a walkabout performance featuring two costumed characters.  These ‘merfolk’ are centuries-long residents of the Chesapeake Bay who have left their native waters in order to understand the source of its destruction.  In search of answers and possible solutions, they wander the streets of Baltimore, interviewing its residents, intercepting debris before it enters the waterways and crafting merfolk charms from plastic bottles. Additional performance by Jacob Dillow and photos by Ana Tantaros.

Professor Bluegill is a walkabout performance inspired by my concern about the impacts of pollution on the Chespeake Bay. In the performance, the Professor reads a cautionary tale to his students, a class of fish housed in the school on the back of his bike. “The Tale of Tip & Flo” follows two fish, on their search for food in the Harbor waters. The tale addresses the issue of pollution in the Bay and concludes with Tip and Flo taking action to bring life back to the Bay. The show has been performed at various performance festivals including the 9th International Toy Theater Festival in New York City, the 7th Annual Transmodern Festival in Baltimore and the Puppet Company in Glen Echo, MD.