Employing tap dance and beatbox (two disciplines with rich histories of improvisatory practice), Teicher and Celiz reunite for the first time in 2020 to reflect, reminisce and reimagine their playful, collaborative relationship through music and dance. The performers will ask the virtual audience to help shape the performance. Comments, suggestions and polls will impact their live decision-making and performative choices. A live discussion incorporating questions from the audience will be held following the performance, led by Executive and Artistic Director Christopher Gruits.
Caleb Teicher (Dancer/Choreographer)
Caleb Teicher is a New York City-based dancer and choreographer specializing in musically driven dance traditions and interdisciplinary collaboration. Teicher began their career as a founding member of Michelle Dorrance’s critically acclaimed tap dance company, Dorrance Dance, while also freelancing in contemporary dance (The Chase Brock Experience, The Bang Group), Lindy Hop (Syncopated City Dance Company), and musical theatre (West Side Story International Tour and London).
Since founding Caleb Teicher & Company (CT&Co) in 2015, Teicher’s creative work has expanded to engagements and commissions across the U.S. and abroad including The Joyce Theater, the Guggenheim Museums in NYC and Bilbao, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival and Lincoln Center Out of Doors. When live performance resumes, Teicher’s work will be presented in over a dozen cities across the U.S.
Teicher is known for choreographic works with diverse musical talents including creating full collaborations for CT&Co with world champion beatboxer Chris Celiz and composer/pianist Conrad Tao; performing as a soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center; recording percussion and vocals for television with Ben Folds; and choreographing Regina Spektor’s residency on Broadway.
Teicher is the recipient of a 2019 New York City Center Choreographic Fellowship, two Bessie Awards, a 2019 Harkness Promise Award, and a 2019 NEFA National Dance Project Production Grant. Their work has been featured by The New York Times, NPR, Forbes, Vogue, Interview Magazine, on the cover of Dance Magazine and, most recently, on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert alongside Regina Spektor. Teicher continues to engage with dance communities as a teacher for international tap, swing and jazz dance festivals.
Chris Celiz (Beatboxer)
Chris Celiz is an artist, music educator, world champion beatboxer and all-around “fun-haver,” focused on sharing the possibility of empowerment, joy and excellence through performance, education and artistry. A New York City native and graduate of SUNY Fredonia, some notable accomplishments include winning the American Beatbox Championships in 2015 and 2016, the Grand Beatbox Battle in 2018 and the World Beatbox Championships in 2018 (all in partnership with acclaimed beatboxer Gene Shinozaki). Celiz is also the founder of The Beatbox House, a collective of world-champion beatboxers based out of NYC.