Keith Terry

Keith Terry (born November 22, 1951, in Waxahachie, Texas) is an American percussionist, rhythm dancer, and educator. He is best known for pioneering the art form, Body Music. He is a soloist and the ensemble director of Crosspulse, an Oakland, California-based, non-profit organization dedicated to the creation and performance of rhythm-based intercultural music and dance. Crosspulse was founded by Terry with Deborah Lloyd and Jim Hogan and produces dance and music works ranging in size from solos and duos to ensembles of one hundred performers, touring ambitious and logistically complex performances throughout the world. In addition, Crosspulse produces educational and outreach programs for children and adults and audio and video recordings and books, including "The Rhythm of Math." His teaching method has been praised by music educators, especially within the Orff system. In 2008, Terry was honored with a Guggenheim Fellowship. Terry is also the founding director of the International Body Music Festival(IBMF), an annual six-day Body Music festival that has been produced in the United States, Brazil, Turkey, Indonesia, Ghana, Italy, Greece and France. As part of the 10th International Body Music Festival in Accra, Ghana, Terry was awarded the 2018 PERCUACTION Lifetime Achievement Award, acknowledging his achievements in the fields of performance, industry and education. Previous honorees include: Jose Luis Quintana 'Changuito', Reinhard Flatischler, Dame Evelyn Glennie, Remo Belli, Zakir Hussain and Keiko Abe. Professional development In 1979, Terry became a charter member of the San Francisco Bay Area-based Gamelan Sekar Jaya, founded by Michael Tenzer, Rachel Cooper, and I Wayan Suweca, a community Balinese music and dance group that has become the foremost Balinese group outside of Bali. At the same time, Terry worked with the Pickle Family Circus and Jazz Tap Ensemble (JTE). At JTE, from 1979-1983 he created several original body percussion works with the dancers and musicians including “Tune for KB” and “Hey Rube.” During one rehearsal, Terry had a revelation that he could displace everything he was doing with the drums onto his body. He stood up and started dancing his music.