Since 1983 Celeste Miller has toured extensively with her full-length solo performance repertoire. Her performance style, a combination of spoken word and movement that plumbs narrative for physical imagery in juxtaposed connection with text, was acclaimed by critics and audience members alike.
Her work has been presented in venues that include 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.
Fellowships and awards for this work include the National Endowment for the Arts Choreography Fellowship, The Atlanta Mayor’s Fellowship in the Arts, Individual Artist Fellowship for Solo Theatrical Performance by the Maryland State Arts Council, Massachusetts New Playwrights Fellowship; as well as grants and awards from the Rockefeller Foundation, Atlanta Circle of Drama Critics, City of Atlanta, Fulton County Arts Council of Atlanta and arts councils in Georgia, Massachusetts and Maryland.
Solo choreography: a select list
“Charmion: Flirting & Flying”, Sautee-Nacoochee Cultural Center, Sautee-Nacoochee, GA 2016
“Once Upon a Time Wolf”, Alternate ROOTS Gathering, 2015
“It’s Elemental”, with Chip Epsten, Beacon Dance Theatre and Decatur Festival for the Arts, Atlanta, GA, 2012
“Valentina’s Atomic Lessons”, commissioned by Trillium Performance Group, Lewisbug, WV 2010
“The Annunciation, sort of…”, American Dance Festival, 2008
“Drowning in the Evidence”, a performance-keynote, visual design by Sabina Angel, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival 2006
“Sometimes Wisdom is Madness”, Morris Museum of Art, Augusta, GA 2006
“The Packable Child”, Mother and Daughter duet, Beacon Dance Theatre and Decatur Festival for the Arts. Atlanta, GA 2006
“Cranky Angel”, New York premiere, Symphony Space, New York, NY 2005
“Snow White Retracted”, solo, Eko Dance Theatre, Banff Center for the Arts, Banff, Canada 2003
“How I Became God in Social Studies”, Cultural Arts Café Conference, Baltimore, MD 2003
“Multi-Medea Idea”, solo, New Vaudeville Festival 2000, LaMama, Etc., New York, NY 2000
“Grandma’s Peas, My Beethoven”, commissioned by Jeremy Alliger, Boston Dance Umbrella, Boston, MA 1999
“Big Sky Spinning”, duet, collaboration with composer/pianist Philip Aaberg, American Festival Project and Montana Presents. Choteau, Helena, Great Falls, Chester, MT 1994-95
“”Go, Dad, Go! Visions on Route 66”, Local Motion Dance Foundation, Tulsa, OK 1989
“Anti-Gravity”, solo, text by Jim Grimsley, visual design by Bill Georgia, music by Brian Walker, Georgia Council for the Arts, Alternate ROOTS/Rockefeller Foundation, New Music America/Miami, Atlanta, GA and Miami, FL 1988
“True Stories from New Jersey”, commissioned by Professor Marilyn Gottleib-Roberts, Miami-Dade Community College for Miami WAVES Film and Video Festival, Miami, FL 1987
“Faith Swimming”, full length solo work, original score by Inge Berge, premiere Dancers Courageous, Gloucester, MA 1998
“Waving from the Shore”, full length solo work, original score by Dawn Pratson, premiere Gloucester Stage Company, Gloucester, MA 1997
“The Burning Lake”, full-length solo work, premiere Gloucester Stage Company, Gloucester, MA, 1996
“Maybe She Just Wanted to Roam”, Gloucester Stage Company, Gloucester, MA, 1995
“Fear of Falling”, Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, Off-Center Theatre, Tampa, FL, 1994
“The Emergency of Minutes”, solo, premiere Highways Performance Space, Santa Monica, CA 1990
“White Rabbit”, premiere More Productions, Atlanta, GA 1989
“Nurse Mom”, solo, premiere More Productions, Atlanta, GA 1989
“White Dress on Winter Streets”, solo, More Productions, Atlanta, GA 1989
“Dad and the Tangos”, Nexus Theatre, Atlanta, GA 1988
“Summertime in the Burbs: BBQ Land”, Nexus Theatre, Atlanta, GA 1988
“Stop & Think”, solo, text by Jim Grimsley, 7 Stages Theatre, Atlanta, GA 1988
“A War Story”, collaboration with Zaron Burnett. Premiere Nexus Contemporary Art Center, Atlanta, GA, 1987, Spoleto Piccollo Festival, Charleston, SC
“True Stories from New Jersey”, premiere Nexus Contemporary Art Center, Atlanta, GA, 1986
Clips from four text & movement solos that span the years 1985-2002.
Selected list of presenters and commissioners:
Artswatch, Louisville, KY
Catapult, New Orleans, LA
Columbia College, Columbia, SC
Contemporary Art Center, New Orleans, LA
Dance Aspen, Aspen, CO
Dance Hall, Cleveland, OH
Dance Place, Washington, DC
Dance Umbrella, Austin, TX
Dance Umbrella, Boston, MA
Dia Foundation, New York, NY
Emory University, Atlanta, GA
Florida Dance Festival, Miami FL and Tampa FL
Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA
Grinnell College, Grinnell, IA
Helena Presents, Helena, MT
Highways Performance Space, Los Angeles, CA
Kohler Center for the Arts, Sheboygan, MI
Local Motion Foundation, Tulsa, OK
Loft Theatre, Tampa, FL
Los Angeles Fringe Festival, Los Angeles, CA
Miami Dade Community College, Miami, FL
MoMix, Chicago, IL
More Productions, Atlanta, GA
Nexus Contemporary Art Center, Atlanta, GA
PS 122, New York, NY
Pontine Movement Theatre, Portsmouth, NH
Ringling School of the Arts, Sarasota, FL
Sushi Performance Space, San Diego, CA
Symphony Space, NY
Tampa Bay Performing Center Off Center Theatre, Tampa, FL
Tiger Tail Productions, Miami, FL
Trillium Performance Group, Lewisburg, WV
University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA
University of Montana, Missoula, MT
University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
University of Wisconsin, WI
Virginia Tech University, VA
Wagon Train Productions, Lincoln, NB
Women & Their Work, Austin, TX