Bessie Awards

Bessie Awards are annual recognitions honoring achievement in contemporary dance, choreography, music composition for dance, performance, and related production disciplines in New York City, United States. Established in the 1980s, the awards highlight work presented at venues and festivals across Manhattan, Brooklyn, and other boroughs, connecting artists, companies, presenters, and funders active in the American and international contemporary dance scenes. The awards are administered by an arts organization and conferred at public ceremonies that bring together institutions, critics, and ensembles.

History

The awards were created in the mid-1980s by figures associated with New York Dance and Performance Awards, Dance Theater Workshop, New York University, and philanthropies such as The Rockefeller Foundation and The Ford Foundation to recognize emerging and established artists working in downtown and uptown traditions. Early ceremonies featured presenters from The Joyce Theater, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Lincoln Center, Judson Church, and journalists from The New York Times, Village Voice, and The New Yorker. Over the decades the awards have intersected with movements led by artists from Merce Cunningham, Martha Graham, Paul Taylor, Alvin Ailey, Trisha Brown, and Yvonne Rainer lineages, while engaging institutions such as Dance/NYC, New York Live Arts, and Danspace Project. Administrative shifts involved partnerships with National Endowment for the Arts and local funders like New York State Council on the Arts and municipal cultural agencies.

Award Categories

Categories have evolved to reflect practices across choreography, performance, music, design, and sustained achievement. Typical categories include Outstanding Choreography, Outstanding Performance (Individual), Outstanding Performance (Ensemble), Outstanding Music Composition, Outstanding Visual or Environmental Design, Emerging Artist, and Lifetime Achievement. These categories align conceptually with programs from The Kennedy Center, Baryshnikov Arts Center, American Dance Festival, Jacob's Pillow, and international festivals such as Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Venice Biennale. Special citations have been presented for interdisciplinary collaborations involving artists associated with Philip Glass, John Cage, Steve Reich, Gillian Lynne, and collectives linked to Judson Dance Theater alumni.

Selection Process

Nominations are sourced from a community of presenters, critics, curators, and peer artists connected to venues like St. Ann's Warehouse, New York City Center, MoMA PS1, and festival programmers from Fall for Dance, APAP (Association of Performing Arts Professionals). Panels composed of practitioners, scholars, and journalists—individuals with ties to Columbia University, The New School, Princeton University, and arts periodicals such as Dance Magazine and BOMB Magazine—review eligible work. Finalists are chosen through deliberation modeled on peer-review practices present in organizations like National Dance Project and adjudicated by juries that have included representatives from The Juilliard School, Tisch School of the Arts (NYU), and international presenters from Sadler's Wells Theatre and The Barbican Centre. Criteria emphasize artistic innovation, rigor, production quality, and community impact.

Notable Recipients and Works

Recipients span choreographers, performers, composers, designers, and companies tied to major figures and institutions. Notable choreographers recognized include artists influenced by Merce Cunningham techniques, successors of Martha Graham and Alvin Ailey traditions, and contemporary innovators connected to Susan Marshall, William Forsythe, Eartha Kitt-era performers, and experimental collectives that collaborated with Philip Glass and John Cage. Ensembles and companies honored have included those affiliated with Mark Morris Dance Group, Paul Taylor Dance Company, Trisha Brown Company, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, Mikhail Baryshnikov projects, and independent artists who later worked with presenters like New York Live Arts and festivals such as Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival. Awarded works often toured to venues including The Kitchen, Carnegie Hall, Sydney Opera House, and European stages such as Théâtre de la Ville and Bunka Kaikan.

Impact and Significance

The awards have helped elevate careers of individuals and companies, influencing commissioning decisions by institutions such as The Joyce Theater, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Kennedy Center, and funders including Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and Guggenheim Foundation. Recognition has affected grantmaking by National Endowment for the Arts and residency offers from centers like Baryshnikov Arts Center and The Yard. The awards contribute to critical discourse in outlets like The New York Times, New Yorker, and academic programs at New York University and Columbia University. International presenters and festivals—from Sadler's Wells to Edinburgh Festival Fringe—have cited awardees in programming, while curators at museums such as Museum of Modern Art and Queens Museum have included award-recognized choreographers in exhibitions and interdisciplinary commissions.

Category:Dance awards