Congrats to the Dance Magazine Harkness Promise Awardees

November 24, 2019

All net proceeds from the Dance Magazine Awards ceremony go towards the Harkness Promise Awards, which grant $5,000 and 40 hours of studio space to innovative young choreographers. This year’s awardees are Bobbi Jene Smith and Caleb Teicher.

Bobbi Jene Smith

Bobbi Jene Smith
never held anything back onstage as a dancer, and today she brings the same approach to choreography. Her visceral, full-bodied and uncompromisingly honest approach to choreography was powerfully evident in her recent, deeply moving evening-length work Lost Mountain, presented by the La Mama Moves! Festival. The award-winning documentary Bobbi Jene captured the trajectory of her departure from a longtime association with Ohad Naharin’s Batsheva Dance Company to create her own work. An alumna of the Juilliard School, University of North Carolina School of the Arts and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, she has also performed in and choreographed for feature films like Annihilation, Ma, Mari and Yossi. Smith is a dedicated teacher of Gaga and Naharin’s repertory at the Juilliard School, New York University, University of the Arts and schools abroad.

Caleb Teicher

Caleb Teicher
has a knack for taking historically American dance styles like tap, Lindy hop and vernacular jazz in intriguingly 21st-century directions: He blurs traditional gender boundaries, experiments with narrative and rhythm, and takes on unexpected collaborations—all while never losing his signature sense of unaffected charm. Teicher began his career with Dorrance Dance, and founded Caleb Teicher & Company in 2015. The Joyce Theater, New York City Center, Works & Process at The Guggenheim and The Kennedy Center have presented his distinctive choreography, known for its inventive, humorous flair.

To purchase tickets to the Dance Magazine Awards or become a sponsor, visit
dancemediafoundation.org
.