A Bit About Me
Tigger Benford is a percussionist, composer and educator, specializing in improvisation, hand drumming and music for dance. He is a Professor Emeritus at Rutgers University, where he was on faculty for 30 years.
He believes that music and musicians exist for evolutionary purposes, as their persistent presence across time and cultures cannot be explained by economic or political means.
He dearly loves listening to many forms of music, and to the sounds of nature and everyday life. He has a particular love for rhythm and drumming, and the group dynamics that create them. Sharing this joy with others is what has inspired him to offer these workshops.
Musical Experience
TEACHING
Rutgers University: 1988-2018. Professor Emeritus.
Music Director of Department of Dance, Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University.
1988-1994: Assistant Professor
1995-2018: Associate Professor
Courses:
Rhythm for Dancers: Freshmen, Spring semester. Required course.
Sound & Movement: Juniors, Fall semester. Required for BFAs.
Percussion Techniques: Required, 1988-1996. Elective, 1997-2017
Byrne Seminar: 10 week Pass/Fail course for all Rutgers Freshmen. 2008-2017
Building Community through Hand Drumming and Body Percussion.
University of Wisconsin
1982-84: Lecturer, Department of Dance, UW/Madison.
Course: Music for Dancers.
CREATIVE WORK
Dance scores/professional dance
Seán Curran: Abstract Concrete, 2000.
Percussion Dances (suite of 4 works, 1/2 evening) 2004&2005 Joyce Theatre and New Victory Theatre, NYC.
2013 Quadrabox. Harvey Theater, Brooklyn Academy of Music.
2023, 2024 Box Tops. Irish Arts Center NYC
July 2024 Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival.
Jane Comfort: Persephone. Premiere 2005 Bryn Mawr College, PA
Other performances including University of North Carolina, Webre State University, Utah and the Joyce Theatre, NYC
Murray Lewis: Black and White. Joyce Theatre, NYC, 1986
Septime Weber: Fluctuating Hemlines. Premiere 1991, McCarter Theatre, Princeton, NJ
Hundreds of performances, including The Joyce Theatre, NYC, the Kennedy Center, Washington DC, and the International Ballet Festival, Bodrum, Turkey. 2012
Rutgers colleagues/college dance
Randy James: Unknown Horizon, and View from the Hudson
Julia Ritter: Pari Passo
John Evans: Farming in Sixes, Indivisible, others.
Paul Ocampo: Grip,
Paulette Sears: Arc, I walk in Beauty.
Blair Ritchie: 7/Cycle
Body Percussion. With Martha Partridge
Boxtops: (duet) Premiere 1985 @ American Dance Festival. 100s of performances by Benford & Partridge, students and professionals. Latest: Irish Arts Center, NYC, 12/24.
Quadrabox: Premiere 1988, Denison University., OH 100s of performances, including Joyce Theater and Brooklyn Academy of Music, NYC. Latest: BAM Harvey Theatre, NYC, 2018
CDs: Producer and Composer
1998 Noise of Choice
2001 Metal Garden
2002 Fluctuating Hemlines. (Dance score).
2004. Talamalika
2006. Songs from the Second World
2013. Vessel of Gratitude
2017. Camouflaged Heart
2017. Four Scores for Dance
LIVE MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
PARTRIDGE/BENFORD DANCE/MUSIC: 1984-1990.
1989: Lincoln Center Performing Artists: 90 schools in NYC and surrounding suburbs
1985: Laban Institute, London UK-performances
1986: Manchester, UK-performances and teaching
1987: Commissioned Score, Cardiff, Wales, UK
84-90: Residencies at various University Dance Departments, including Virginia Commonwealth University, Connecticut College, Carlisle University,
Franklin Marshall University, Denison University, Hobart and William Smith College, many more.
RHYTHMIC UNION: 1978-1984. About 100 shows, mainly at clubs in the Midwest.
PAUL WINTER CONSORT: 1974-77: roughly 200 performances, mainly at American Universities.
MUSIC FOR CLASS
100s of instructors, 1,000s of classes. Modern dance, ballet and African.
University of Illinois 1974-77, 1980-81
University of Wisconsin, 1982-83
American Dance Festival. 1984-87, 2015
Bates Dance Festival. 1988-2014, 12 summers
Manchester Dance Festival. 1988-1999
Colorado College Dance Festival. 1985-86
NYU Tisch School of the Arts. 1984-87,2019-2021
Variety of Dance Studios in NYC. 1984-1987
Mark Morris Dance Center, Brooklyn NY, for Brooklyn Parkinsons Group. 1995-2019
EDUCATION
University of Illinois: Bachelor of Music in Percussion Performance, 1974
University of Illinois: Masters of Music in Percussion Performance, 1980
Independent study: Tabla: Sarda Sahai and Bob Becker, 1974-80.
Samir Chatterjee, 2015-present.
AWARDS and GRANTS
Founding member, International Guild of Musicians in Dance, 1991
2025: recipient, Louis Horst Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music for Dance.
Scores funded by Ford Foundation, Meet the Composer, many more.