Works & Process at the Guggenheim presents Swing 2020, A Joyce Theater Production

Works & Process, the performing arts series at the Guggenheim, presents Swing 2020, A Joyce Theater Production on Monday, February 24, 2020 at 7:30pm.
 
Celebrating the tradition of innovation in America’s partnered dance form, the Lindy Hop, acclaimed choreographer and Dance Magazine cover star Caleb Teicher, along with several Lindy Hop champions, brings the joy, fire, and fight of competitive and social swing dance to the Guggenheim stage. Prior to the August premiere of Swing 2020 at the Joyce Theater, Teicher, his collaborators, Evita Arce, LaTasha Barnes, and Nathan Bugh, and composer Eyal Vilner discuss their creative process, and the acclaimed cast members perform sections of the show accompanied by the Eyal Vilner Big Band.
 
TICKETS & VENUE
$45, $40 members (unless otherwise noted)
$10 TodayTix Lottery and student rush tickets one hour before performance, based on availability (student tickets for those under 30 with valid ID)
Priority ticket access and preferred seat selection starts Dec 10 for $500+ Friends of Works & Process and Guggenheim members at the Associate level and above.
For more information, call 212 758 0024 or 212 423 3587, Mon-Fri, 1-5 pm, or visit worksandprocess.org.
Peter B. Lewis Theater
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
1071 Fifth Avenue at 89th Street
Subway: 4, 5, 6, or Q train to 86th Street
Bus: M1, M2, M3, or M4 bus on Madison or Fifth Avenue
 
Lead funding for Works & Processis provided by the Ford Foundation,Florence Gould Foundation, the Christian Humann Foundation, Mertz Gilmore Foundation, Stavros Niarchos Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and Evelyn Sharp Foundation, with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and the National Endowment for the Arts.
 
Caleb Teicher is a NYC-based dancer and choreographer specializing in American dance traditions and musical collaboration. Teicher began his 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), swing dance (Syncopated City Dance Company), and musical theater (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 US and abroad including The Joyce Theater, New York City Center, the Guggenheim Museum (NYC and Bilbao), Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, and Lincoln Center Out of Doors. Over the next year, Caleb’s work will be presented in over a dozen cities across the United States.Teicher is known for his choreographic collaborations with diverse musical talents: he’s created full collaborations for CT&Co with world-champion beatboxer Chris Celiz and composer/pianist Conrad Tao; performed as a soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center; recorded percussion and sang duets for television with Ben Folds; and most recently choreographed Regina Spektor’s residency on Broadway. Caleb 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. His work has been featured by The New York Times, NPR, Forbes, Vogue, Interview Magazine, and most recently, as the cover of Dance Magazine’s September 2019 issue. Caleb continues to engage with dance communities as a teacher for international tap and swing dance festivals.
 
Eyal Vilner has become one of the leading new voices in the New York swing and big band scene. Born in Tel Aviv, saxophonist, clarinetist, flutist, composer and bandleader Eyal Vilner moved to New York in 2007 and started his big band the following year. The Eyal Vilner Big Band has been performing widely at some of New York’s landmarks such as Jazz at Lincoln Center, Midsummer Night Swing, Birdland, Dizzy’s Club, Smalls Jazz Club, Minton’s Playhouse, The Django, Battle of the Big Bands on the Intrepid, Swing ReMix, Swing 46 and Central Park SummerStage. Internationally, Eyal has performed on Israel’s most prestigious stages such as the Red Sea Jazz Festival, Tel Aviv Museum, Jerusalem Theater, The Tel Aviv Jazz Festival as well as the historical La Bellevilloise, Caveau des Oubliettes and Caveau de la Huchette in Paris. The big band performs Eyal’s new arrangements of jazz and swing tunes as well as his original compositions. Their music, which derives from the tradition of jazz, swing and the blues, strives to bring a unique voice to this beautiful art form. The big band’s first four albums: Introducing the Eyal Vilner Big Band, Almost Sunrise, Hanukkah and Swing Out! received rave reviews and made it to the Top Jazz Radio Charts of the US and Canada.
The Eyal Vilner Big Band has collaborated with some of the top jazz legends of our time including NEA Jazz Masters Frank Wess, Jimmy Heath and Jimmy Owens, and pianist Junior Mance. 
 
Nathan Bugh is known worldwide for his intimate and rhythmic movement. He “rocked the stage” at Carnegie Hall, dancing Lindy Hop with the New York Pops Orchestra; he performed in Harlem’s famous Apollo Theater in Swingin’ Frankie’s Way; and he danced in the CT&Co’s More Forever, at Jacob’s Pillow. His on-film appearances include: “My Fair Wedding” S.3 E.3 Great Gatsby Bride, Fox and Friends Christmas, Rebel In The Rye, and The Weepies – Be My Honey Pie. As a national competitor, Nathan has taken 1st place in Lindy, Slow Dancing, Solo Charleston, Team, Jill&Jack, and Cabaret divisions. He is one of the most eminent solo-jazz contestants in the world, having won both the Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown (2012) and International Lindy Hop Championships (2014), as well as achieving 3rd place in the ILHC invitational (2018). He is also the director and choreographer of “Yeah Man,” the 2015 ILHC Team champions. Nathan is based in New York City, where he performs regularly and teaches social-dance classes.
 
LaTasha “Tasha” Barnes is an artist, dancer, entrepreneur, and ambassador of culture. Born and raised in Richmond, VA, Tasha has enjoyed much of her life immersed in jazz, funk, soul, and R&B music and dance thanks to her DJ father and dancing family. Having turned that lifelong passion into cultural activism she serves towards achieving the mission of Urban Artistry, Inc to preserve the arts that represent the urban experience, as a directing member, performer and educator. She is celebrated for her musicality, athleticism, and joyful presence throughout all her dance forms which include: House, Hip Hop, Waacking, Vernacular Jazz, and Lindy Hop. Forever a student, Tasha continues to develop her knowledge and performance skills across her many disciplines. As an educator and performer, she strives to inspire fellow artists to cultivate an authentic sense of self in their creative expressions and daily lives.
 
New York based Lindy Hopper Evita Arce has charmed audiences around the globe with a true joy for dance and movement. She was featured as a main character in the 2016 documentary “Alive and Kicking,” which illustrates how Evita’s devotion to Lindy Hop helped push the influence of swing dancing to larger audiences, screening in main theaters, film festivals and even on Delta flights! Honored to work with Caleb Teicher & Company, Evita has performed in Meet Ella, More Forever and debuted an emotional cameo on Broadway with Teicher for an exclusive run with Regina Spektor June 2019. For twenty years, Evita has toured extensively with noteworthy appearances at Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, Fox’s “So You Think You Can Dance” and numerous international theaters within the Lindy Hop community. With dance partner, Michael Jagger, Evita danced the feature role in SWING! following in the footsteps of her mentors, Ryan Francois and Jenny Thomas. Together, Michael and Evita also presented Lindy Hop at the Jacob’s Pillow Inside/Out Stage 2012 / 2013. As an educator Evita has shared her passion for Lindy Hop and partnered improvised dancing around the world at festivals and workshops. As faculty at Dance Manhattan, the most recognized school for social dance, Evita created a foundation and platform for her career from 2005 – 2014. She still teaches for the NYU and Columbia Swing Clubs. Evita also offers Lindy Hop education online at www.syncopatedcity.com
 
Works & Process at the Guggenheim
Described by The New York Times as “an exceptional opportunity to understand something of the creative process,” for 35 years, New Yorkers have been able to see, hear, and meet the most acclaimed artists in the world, in an intimate setting unlike any other. Works & Process, the performing arts series at the Guggenheim, has championed new works and offered audiences unprecedented access to generations of leading creators and performers. Most performances take place in the Guggenheim’s intimate Frank Lloyd Wright-designed 273-seat Peter B. Lewis Theater. In 2017, Works & Process established a new residency and commissioning program, inviting artists to create new works, made in and for the iconic Guggenheim rotunda. worksandprocess.org.
 
Joyce Theater Productions
Joyce Theater Productions (JTP) is the in-house producing entity for The Joyce Theater Foundation, Inc., formed to create original work for The Joyce’s stage and for worldwide touring. This initiative provides dance artists who have little or no formal management or infrastructure the means to create productions of the highest standards of excellence. The program also includes the Associate Company model, offering sustained producing, fiscal, and/or administrative management to companies that may require short or longer term support. Originally founded in partnership with Sunny Artist Management, Inc. (SAM) in 2014, JTP has since supported projects with Daniil Simkin, Wendy Whelan/Brian Brooks, Arthur Pita/James Whiteside, Maria Kochetkova, and L.A. Dance Project, and maintains an ongoing relationship with Cuba’s Malpaso Dance Company.