Guild Hall & LTV Present Works & Process OUT EAST: The Missing Element

My name is Chris Celiz. I’m an Artist, Music Educator, World Champion Beatboxer and all-around fun-haver. I’m about sharing the possibility of empowerment, joy and excellence through performance, education, artistry and collaboration. I’m a New York City native, graduate of State University of New York at Fredonia (undergraduate in Music Education woo woo.) Some of my more notable accomplishments are winning the American Beatbox Championships in 2015 and 2016, the Grand Beatbox Battle in 2018, the World Beatbox Championships in 2018 and the 2019 Varsity Vocals International Acapella Open (all of this accomplished with my homie Gene Shinozaki. ) I am also the recipient of the 2020 Gross Family Prize (for Bzzzz choreographed by Caleb Teicher,) and was commissioned by Works and Process at the Guggenheim to Premiere “The Missing Element” (a 40-minute dance and beatbox immersive experience) in the Guggenheim Rotunda. In partnership with Lincoln Center, Kaatsbaan Culture Park and Works and Process we documented the process of the creation of the piece during COVID 19 in a docuseries called Isolation to Creation. I am the founder of The Beatbox House, A collective of World Champion Beatboxers based out of New York City.

I’ve been blessed to perform at places like Carnegie Hall, The Apollo, New York City Center, Lincoln Center, Jacob’s Pillow, Le Poisson Rouge, The Kennedy Center, Astrakulturehaus, New Victory Theatre and The Blue Note to name a few. I’ve had the opportunity to speak and perform at universities such as Harvard, Colombia, Brown, The New School, Westminster Choir College, and I’ve also collaborated with luminaries as Dana Leong, Bryon Bainn and Caleb Teicher. I have gotten to speak at conferences such as NJMEA and NAFME Eastern Conference as a clinician alongside Amanda Newell as the beginning of the new beatbox education movement. I’ve also taught in New York City Public and Private Schools as a full-time music educator (general music and chorus), and have recently taken the leap to make music my full-time career and am currently performing and teaching virtually, nationally and internationally.

https://www.chrisceliz.com/

Anthony Vito Rodriguez, also known as Invertebrate, is a creative director, choreographer, and specialty performer. Anthony has over fifteen years of experience in hip-hop culture, primarily the dance style bboying. Combining his contorting flexibility and dynamic blow up moves, along with his charisma and musicality, bringing his unique style together. Outside live performance, he's more recently appeared on the television shows Gotham and Evil. 

Kash is a dancer, host, filmmaker and co-founder of YAK Films. He has been traveling the world filming street dance, studying new dance styles and hosting the "Yak Like You Know" show (YLYK) which features new dancers, original styles, fresh music and epic events. YAK Films is a media crew that covers street dance events worldwide, founded in East Oakland, California in 2008. The original crew met at the Youth UpRising Community Center, where they began working with a local street dance crew called the Turf Feinz. It started when one of their videos commemorating the loss of a dancer's brother went viral online. They then went looking for other street dance styles and events where dancers would battle each other for money, respect and glory. YAK is dedicated to bringing together quality local visuals, up and coming music artists and the best street dance talent to serve a growing global audience.