I’m not sure why it’s taken as long as it has for me to attend Spoleto.
I’ve been to Charleston to see ballets and other performances, but I’d never gone to Spoleto. Missing live performances as I have and needing a short break, I started looking at Spoleto offerings in early May.
Spoleto’s 45th season opened May 28 and will run through June 13.
The Preservation Hall Jazz Band and A New Orleans Jazz Celebration were sold out. Other performances were virtual. One description piqued my interest – Caleb Teicher & Co.
MORE: North Augusta Summer Concerts Set to Return June 10
“Caleb Teicher & Co.’s spirited and joyous tap style blends in elements and jazz and swing, skirting expectations at every turn,” it read.
I couldn’t remember the last live dance performance I’d been to. It was probably aboard the Carnival Ecstasy in February 2020. In many ways, that was a lifetime ago. I bought tickets on the spot for my husband and myself.
As I said, I’d never been to Spoleto before, and I knew precious little about it except that it was an arts event in Charleston. I wondered why the performance began at 8:30 p.m. It seemed a little late to me, but I went with it. When Siri dropped us in the middle of the College of Charleston, it all became clear.
[adrotate banner=”19″]
I was so thankful for the cooler weather in Charleston May 29 because River’s Green is an outdoor venue, and by 8:30 p.m., the sun had set, ushering in even lower temps, perfect weather for an outdoor dance performance.
Caleb Teicher came on the stage and welcomed the crowd, sitting in socially-distanced pods.
“It’s so nice to see people,” said Teicher whose company is based in New York City. “So nice.”
After a year without performing before a live audience, it was obvious Teicher and his dancers were ready for the sounds of applause and energy only an audience can give.
The program was divided into two different segments. The first featured three dancers, including Teicher.
The Rivers Green stage on the campus of College of Charleston is the site of multiple dance performances during Spoleto, which runs through June 13. Staff photo by Charmain Z. Brackett 
Charleston’s Spoleto Festival is underway through June 13. Staff photo by Charmain Z. Brackett
Called “Meet Ella,” it incorporated live recordings of Ella Fitzgerald from the late 1950s and featured songs such as “Midnight Sun,” “Love is Here to Stay,” “When You’re Smilin’” and “That Old Black Magic.”
To those songs, the trio performed a variety of swing dance styles.
After a brief intermission, which was long enough to install a tap floor, Teicher and the other dancers emerged with beatboxer Chris Celiz to perform a series of contemporary tap numbers in “Bzzz.” The piece featured solos as well as group dances.
[adrotate banner=”19″]
“You have to experience it. It’s not the same on video,” Teicher had said at the beginning of the show.
He was right. When I bought my tickets, limited seats remained including two on the front row. That was close enough for me to feel the performance. The reverberation from Celiz’s percussion and the amplified tap shoes hit me in the chest, taking me into the dance in a way only front row seats can.
The dancers were energetic and engaging. The performance was electrifying and exciting, and it ended just in time. We’d only been gone from the venue about 10 minutes when the sky opened, and a thunderstorm passed through.
MORE: The Modern Gentlemen to Appear Two Nights in Aiken
Teicher and crew will perform again June 1 and 2.
Other performances continue through June 13 including Ballet Under the Stars at River’s Green June 3 and 4; the spooky production of “The Woman in Black” June 1-8 and 10-13; Ephrat Asherie Dance June 9-13; The Cookers, June 5; and The Wood Brothers June 8-9. Multiple offerings are available in a variety of arts disciplines.
To learn more, visit spoletousa.org.
Charmain Z. Brackett is the Features Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach her at charmain@theaugustapress.com.
[adrotate banner=”37″]
