From the South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Best Playwright

September 21 2005

Teo Castellanos
www.teocastellanos.com

A moving and dramatic work, Miami playwright Teo Castellanos' Scratch and Burn premiered in May at the Byron Carlyle Theater. Using six dancers from his D-Projects urban arts collective, Castellanos and choreographer Ricardo "Speedy Legs" Fernandez seamlessly meshed tribal ritual with break-dancing and the Brazilian martial art of capoeira. The show traced the roots of mankind's aggression from hunters killing a bull to the death and destruction wrought by modern warfare in the Middle East to create an emotional plea for peace. The dancers, almost all of whom were street-trained, delivered extremely athletic and affecting performances after Castellanos put them through their paces with intensive physical and philosophical training. Commissioned by the Miami Light Project, the hip-hop theater piece premiered at the not-for-profit arts organization's Miami/Project Hip-hop event. The Fringe First Award-winning Castellanos and D-Projects presented their latest work, Glossy Page Pimps, this month at the MLP's Light Box theater.