Caleb Teicher

THE BESSIES: Five 2019 Nominees

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Jessica and Clara had the great pleasure of interviewing five 2019 Bessie Award nominees this year – in order of interview: Caleb Teicher, Molly Poerstel, Shamar Watt, Ni’Ja Whitson and Leslie Cuyjet! (See below for nominations!) The Bessies – which celebrate their 35 anniversary this year –  are New York City’s premier annual dance awards honoring outstanding creative work in the field, and our interviewees could not have illustrated this more clearly. We were fascinated to dig into the inspiration and processes behind a sampling of the imaginative, diverse, socially important and truly outstanding works that are being recognized this year. We hope you will enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed conversing. For more about each artist, continue scrolling for individual bios/episodes! Note that the Bessies awards ceremony will take place on Monday, October 14th, 2019. Jessica and Clara will be there, alongside our five interviewees and of course many more. Come join us and be sure to say ‘hi’!

Caleb Teicher – Nominated for three awards: Outstanding Breakout Choreographer, Outstanding Production (More Forever, Guggenheim Works & Process ), and Outstanding Sound Design/Musical Composition (along with Conrad Tao), for the same work

Molly Poerstel  – Nominated for Outstanding Performer for Sustained Achievement with Hilary Clark, David Dorfman, Jeanine Durning, Alex Escalante, Juliana F. May, Susan Rethorst, Roseanne Spradlin, and Larissa Velez-Jackson

Shamar Watt – Nominated for outstanding Performer for Sustained Achievement in the work of Nora Chipaumire

Ni’Ja Whitson – Nominated for two awards: Outstanding Production (Oba Qween Baba King Baba, Co-commissioned by Danspace Project and Abrons Arts Center), and costume co-designer / member of Outstanding Visual Design, for the same work, together with Jeanne Medina (Costumes), Gil Sperling (Video – featuring art works by Wangechi Mutu and Galvin Jantejes ), and Tuçe Yasak (Lighting)

Leslie Cuyjet – Nominated for Outstanding Performer for Sustained Achievement in the work of Jane Comfort, Niall Jones, Juliana F. May, Cynthia Oliver, and Will Rawls

 

2019 BESSIE NOMINEE: Caleb Teicher

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Pod de Deux interviewed Caleb Teicher as part of a series of interviews with five 2019 NYC Bessie Award nominees. Caleb was nominated for a Bessie for outstanding production in More Forever Guggenheim Works & Process. We hope to do a full-length interview with him in the future!

Caleb Teicher began his dance career as a founding member of Michelle Dorrance’s celebrated company, Dorrance Dance, in 2011. Other favorite performance credits include The Chase Brock Experience, Syncopated City Dance Company, The Bang Group, Sally Silvers & Dancers, and West Side Story (Int’l Tour and London).

Since founding Caleb Teicher and Company (CT&Co) in 2015, Teicher’s creative work has expanded to engagements and commissions from The Joyce Theater, New York City Center, Works & Process @ The Guggenheim, The Kennedy Center (with Ben Folds & the National Symphony Orchestra), “Regina Spektor on Broadway”, and many others. 

Caleb is a 2019 New York City Center Choreographic Fellow, a 2019 Bessie Award Nominee for Outstanding Breakout Choreographer, one of Dance Magazine’s 2012 “25 to Watch”, and a 2011 Bessie Award Winner for Outstanding Individual Performance. His work has been featured in publications including The New York Times, NPR, Forbes, Dance Magazine, Vogue, and Interview Magazine.

Caleb continues to engage with dance communities as an instructor at international Tap and Jazz Dance festivals. He is a proud alum of the School at Jacob’s Pillow and the National YoungArts Foundation.