A faucet dancer and a pianist carry out Bach and Gershwin behind a desk in our workplace: What might presumably go improper? You may’t inform by these really electrifying performances, however an hour earlier than this Tiny Desk started, I used to be chasing a tow truck to a salvage yard. The particular person slated to ship our faucet ground was snagged in a multi-car pileup that, fortunately, left no person injured. I rented a U-Haul, grabbed the ground from the totaled automobile and floored it again to NPR.
The behind-the-scenes complications had been value it after we stood in awe of those two artists — pianist Conrad Tao and dancer-choreographer Caleb Teicher — as they created an expertise so unexpectedly recent and suffused with pleasure, it moved some to tears and others to cheer for extra.
Bach and faucet dancing would possibly, on the floor, don’t have anything in widespread. However right here, with ecstatic vitality, the artists actually convey out the spirit of dance inherent in Bach’s music, as Teicher’s suave clicks and clacks weave into the multi-voiced counterpoint.
Catching a breath, the 2 sluggish it down with a sensual piece composed collectively. Teicher buffs the ground with softer sneakers whereas Tao faucets out mild, Chopin-perfumed harmonies. Excessive voltage gusto returns in Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. Tao’s athleticism, rising from the bench with blistering runs, almost rivals Teicher, whose fixed innovations, Charlie Chaplin attraction and pretzel-like flexibility create a cinematic aptitude.
Former prodigies, Tao and Teicher feed off of one another’s virtuosity. Introduced with real delight, the performances left them exhausted and the viewers gobsmacked.
SET LIST
- Bach: Goldberg Variation #1
- Tao/Teicher: Swing 2
- Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue
MUSICIANS
- Conrad Tao: pianist
- Caleb Teicher: dancer
TINY DESK TEAM
- Producer: Tom Huizenga
- Director/Editor: Joshua Bryant
- Audio Engineer: Josh Rogosin
- Artistic Director: Bob Boilen
- Collection Producer: Bobby Carter
- Videographers: Joshua Bryant, Alanté Serene, Mitra I. Arthur
- Manufacturing Assistant: Ashley Pointer
- Audio Assistant: Robert Rodriguez
- Photographer: Catie Boring
- Tiny Desk Staff: Suraya Mohamed, Hazel Cills, Kara Body, Maia Stern
- VP, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins
- Senior VP, Programming: Anya Grundmann
