Celeste Miller is a choreographer, solo performer, Educator, community arts animator.
Her solo work intertwines movement with text in a choreographed arrangement of the body and spoken language to create a mytho-poetic symbol system. As a result, the relationship of text to movement and image are in a constant shift of subtext to one another through the manipulation of juxtapositions. Noted dance writer Marcia B. Siegel described her as a “master orchestrator” of this form.
IN HER WORK -whether solo, ensemble, community projects or in the classroom - she explores the possibilities of dance as a performing art, cultural practice, political act and a method for the embodiment of ideas and beliefs.
Dubbed "Dance Whisperer", Celeste has devoted her life to finding ways that anybody and everybody can find a way to experience the world, and express ideas through participatory dance-making.
Her performance style is a combination of spoken word and movement that plumbs narrative for physical imagery in juxtaposed connection with text. She has toured extensively with her full-length solo performance repertoire since 1983, creating over fifty-five original text + movement works. Her work was presented in venues that included theatres, galleries, cafes, rock clubs and grange halls. From the avant-garde hot bed of New York City’s downtown dance scene at PS 122, to Symphony Hall in Atlanta; from the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC; to the Los Angeles Fringe Festival to homes and schools throughout rural Montana – Celeste’s work has been witnessed and acclaimed by critics and audience members alike.
I was born in New York City, and raised in Jersey, a bus and subway ride from Manhattan. This proximity to the city allowed, me as a teenager, to study at the schools of Alvin Ailey, The New Dance Group and Merce Cunningham; as well as with Latvian-born Stanislavski dancer Valentina Litvinof, and dancer/activist Eleo Pomare. I finally landed at the place that was my best fit – with Murray Louis and Alwin Nikolais, where I was fortunate to additionally study with Phyllis Lamhut and Robert Small. Lamhut and Small remain my mentors to this day.
I am the product of the era I grew up in. I turned 16 in 1969. And as much joy as I found in dance, I was torn between whether I should be in the studio or on the streets protesting. I sought, and continue to seek, spaces where these intersect.
Moving to Atlanta in my early 20’s, profoundly shaped my birth as an artist, and as a result I will always call Atlanta my home. Some of the circumstances that laid the foundations for my artistic practice included these events and experiences. In the early 70’s, I took over the lease on a 70-seat theatre, with an upstairs dance studio. 1065 St. Charles Ave. in Virginia Highlands. A very different neighborhood than it is today. One of the Atlanta Journal Constitution critics likened it to “the black hole of Calcutta”.
I was young and hungry for collective art-making. We were a collective of performer/dancers/musicians, we taught and performed in our space, as we also reached out into our neighborhood. Eventually my group merged with a group of actors and we made the Theatrical Outfit. (Much different than what it is today.) Neighborhood partnerships included working with the homeless shelter a few blocks down, and a Headstart program in the basement of a local church. This was my first attempt at community arts practice. This environment was shaped by the influences and leadership of Maynard Jackson who was running for mayor, won the election and served three terms. Jackson initiated a political revolution in the heart of the South. He transformed Atlanta into a mecca for blacks from across the country, set up affirmative-action programs for city workers, gave neighborhoods a voice in city planning, and developed strong local arts funding. I also began my involvement with Alternate ROOTS, a coalition of artists committed to a sense of place, and social justice through art-making. I continue to gather regularly with my ROOTS family for renewal and continual challenge as we practice what it means to make art that matters. Who I am as an artist is shaped by these circumstances.
I have received numerous grants and awards including National Endowment for the Arts Choreographers Fellowship, Atlanta Mayor’s Fellowship in the Arts, and nominations for the CalArts Alpert Award and the United States Artist Fellowship. I am humbled by these honors that recognize my work as a solo performer of text + movement, ensemble choreographer, and animator of community dance projects; exploring the possibilities of dance as embodied expression of ideas and a laboratory to cultivate our capacity towards kindling our humanity.
My solo “talking dance” work has been presented in urban and rural settings, from theatres and museums, to rock clubs and grange halls. Support for community-based projects has come from the Bruce J. Anderson Foundation, American Festival Project, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Most recently, a National Performance Network Creation award supported a collaboration with Tijuana artists exploring borders as physical, emotional and spiritual sites.
Jacob’s Pillow Dance has played a significant role in my life since 1993; as director of Dance & Community Partnerships Choreography Lab (1993-2010), founder of Jacob’s Pillow Curriculum in Motion® with J.R. Glover, (1994-present), and starting in 2016 Medicine in Motion with a National Endowment for the Arts Creativity Connects grant. In 2020 I launched the year-long Jacob’s Pillow Curriculum in Motion® Institute, to train choreographers in the methodology of Curriculum in Motion, with co-author/directors Kimberli Boyd and Michael Richter.
In my 50’s, I got my MFA in dance. Without an undergrad degree, the program accepted me on the merits of my life’s work. I pursued the MFA so that I could teach in higher education. I love teaching, and teaching has been an important and constant thread of my life. To teach in higher ed, I thought I could bring an artist’s lived experience to undergrad study. I led the dance program at Grinnell College (2011-2023) as a space that welcomed EVERY BODY as curious creative ACTivators exploring dance as an essential part of a liberal arts undergrad education. I wrapped up my final semester at Grinnell College in the Department of Theatre, Dance and Performance Studies Spring of 2023 and returned to my heart/home Atlanta and my life as an independent dance artist, educator, writer and community arts animator. Her most recent work was At Water’s Edge/Al Filo del Agua with collaborators Dora Arreola, Miroslava Wilson, Chip Epsten and Siki Carpio, through a National Performance Network Creation Fund Award.
Celeste’s work with community arts projects includes the two-year long Nurses Project, celebrating and honoring the nurses of Cape Ann; and the three-year American Festival Project Big Sky Spinning created in collaboration with composer Philip Aaberg drawn from the stories of five Montana communities. As Artist-in-Residence, and later co-artistic director with Liz Lerman Dance Exchange from 1999-2003, she worked on Lerman's national Hallelujah project as project leader, choreographer and performer. From 2006-2013 she was part of the artistic team for Headwaters, a community story play centered in the community of Sautee-Nacochee in Georgia.In January 2019, she collaborated with members of the Frederick, Maryland community using the “Stranger in a Strange Land” format to create a piece to celebrate a diversity of voices from their community. This work was commissioned by and performed for the Gala Opening of New Stages.
Celeste was the director of Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival’s Choreographer’s Lab (1994-2010) focusing on dance and community engagement. She is the co-founder and director of Jacob’s Pillow Curriculum in Motion (1993-current), and launched the Jacobs Pillow Curriculum in Motion Institute in 2020. An article outlining the Curriculum in Motion approach was published by Cambria Press in "Hybrid Lives of Teaching Artists in Dance and Theatre Arts: A Critical Reader". In 2019, through a National Endowment for the Arts Creativity Connects award, Celeste has been working with the Pillow on a partnership with Berkshire Health Systems to apply the principles of Curriculum in Motion to a new program, Medicine in Motion.
She led the dance program at Grinnell College (2011-2023) as a space that welcomed EVERY BODY as curious creative ACTivators exploring dance as an essential part of a liberal arts undergrad education. She wrapped up her final semester at Grinnell College in the Department of Theatre, Dance and Performance Studies Spring of 2023 and returned to her heart/home Atlanta and life as an independent dance artist, educator, writer and community arts animator.