An Interview with Teo Castellanos

Just got off of the phone with the amazing Teo Castellanos who had just finished his breakfast of organic oatmeal and soymilk after a morning of meditation and yoga. Teo is an actor/writer/director/choreographer/world-traveller based out of Miami. He recently brought "Scratch and Burn" - a choreographed peace ritual involving breakdance, multi-media, and ancient rituals from the Zulu and Maori cultures to Atlanta. I was lucky enough to see the work at 7 Stages. One image in particular stays with me - four men in a circle facing the cardinal directions while a 5th man, curled into a ball and wrapped in gauze sits in the middle of their circle. The men, who have assumed very primitive stances (and by this I mean ape-like) are gaurding the 5th man. Deep down, our primitive roots guide us towards compassion and greif for the passing of another human being. Wars do not allow for the recognition of that instinct.

Listen to my interview (downloadable Mp3 file = 9.1 MB) with Teo where we talk about the Miami arts scene, the inspirations behind his work, his upcomng projects and listen to audio from the show "Scratch and Burn."