New York Dance and Performance Awards

New York Dance and Performance Awards
Name	New York Dance and Performance Awards
Awarded for	Excellence in dance and performance in New York City
Presenter	Bessie Awards Committee
Country	United States
Year	1984

New York Dance and Performance Awards are annual honors recognizing achievement in contemporary dance, choreography, performance, music collaboration, and production in New York City. Established in the 1980s, the awards have intersected with institutions and figures across the New York City performing arts scene, including companies, venues, and creators who have also been affiliated with Lincoln Center, Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York Theatre Workshop, The Juilliard School, and New York University. Recipients have included choreographers, dancers, composers, and designers whose work connects to organizations such as Merce Cunningham Dance Company, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Martha Graham Dance Company, Paul Taylor Dance Company, and Trisha Brown Company.

History

The awards were initiated in 1984 amid a period of institutional consolidation and independent innovation involving entities like New York State Council on the Arts, Dance Theatre Workshop, The Kitchen, Danspace Project, and artists associated with Judson Dance Theater, Nederlands Dans Theater, Image Movement Collective, and American Dance Festival. Early years featured honorees connected to figures such as Merce Cunningham, Martha Graham, Alvin Ailey, Bill T. Jones, and Pina Bausch, reflecting intersections with festivals and venues including Jacob's Pillow, SummerStage, Spoleto Festival USA, and Festival d'Avignon. Over decades the awards adapted to shifts in funding from institutions like the National Endowment for the Arts and to collaborations with presenters like Dance/NYC, New York Foundation for the Arts, and City Center.

Award Categories and Criteria

Categories have evolved to recognize choreography, performance, music composition, visual design, and new work development, with named categories referencing contributors and funders such as New York State Council on the Arts, Ford Foundation, and individual patrons tied to The Rockefeller Foundation and Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Typical distinctions include honors for Outstanding Choreography, Outstanding Performance, Outstanding Production, Outstanding Music Composition for dance, and Emerging Artist Awards, each judged against benchmarks influenced by companies and artists from Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Paul Taylor Dance Company, Merce Cunningham Dance Company, Pina Bausch Tanztheater, and institutions like Juilliard and Millennium Stage. Criteria often address innovation, technical excellence, collaborative scope with entities such as Bang on a Can, New York Philharmonic, Soho Rep, and impact on communities served by presenters including Dance Theater Workshop and Danspace Project.

Nomination and Selection Process

Nominees are typically identified through a combination of peer recommendations, presenter submissions, and committee review with participation from curators and critics affiliated with The New York Times, Village Voice, New Yorker, Dance Magazine, and arts organizations including Dance/NYC, New York Foundation for the Arts, and National Endowment for the Arts. A selection committee composed of artists, producers, presenters, and scholars with ties to Brooklyn Academy of Music, Lincoln Center Festival, City Center, and academic departments at New York University, Columbia University, and The Juilliard School evaluates submitted seasons and performances. Transparent guidelines parallel practices used by awards like the Tony Awards, Obie Awards, MacArthur Fellows Program, and festival juries at Jacob's Pillow and Spoleto Festival USA while aiming to account for work produced in venues ranging from St. Ann's Warehouse to BAM Harvey Theater.

Ceremony and Presentation

Ceremonies have been staged in partnership with venues and institutions such as Brooklyn Academy of Music, City Center, New York Live Arts, The Kitchen, and Danspace Project, and have featured presenters and performers associated with Martha Graham Dance Company, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Merce Cunningham Dance Company, and guest artists from companies like Batsheva Dance Company and Royal Ballet. Presentation formats have included awards ceremonies, curated performances, panel discussions with critics from The New York Times and Village Voice, and benefit events for organizations such as Dance/NYC and New York Foundation for the Arts. The ceremonies often align with seasonal festivals and seasons at institutions like Lincoln Center Festival and NYC Winterfest to maximize visibility and fundraising partnerships with foundations including Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Notable Recipients and Impact

Recipients have included established figures and emerging artists connected to Merce Cunningham, Martha Graham, Alvin Ailey, Bill T. Jones, Trisha Brown, Paul Taylor, Pina Bausch, Susan Marshall, Lucinda Childs, Mark Morris, Twyla Tharp, Jerome Robbins, Ethan Stiefel, Moses Pendleton, Garth Fagan, Ailey II, Eiko & Koma, Ohad Naharin, Crystal Pite, Wayne McGregor, Karole Armitage, Jirí Kylián, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Akram Khan, Sasha Waltz, Les Ballets C de la B and many others whose careers interface with Lincoln Center, BAM, Juilliard, New York University, and international festivals like Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Award recognition has propelled touring engagements at venues such as Jacob's Pillow, Sadler's Wells, Hebbel am Ufer, and collaborations with orchestras like the New York Philharmonic and ensembles such as Bang on a Can, impacting commissioning, residency, and educational programs at institutions including Brooklyn Academy of Music Education and Dance/NYC.

Critical Reception and Controversies

Critical reception has ranged from praise in outlets such as The New York Times, The New Yorker, and Dance Magazine for spotlighting avant-garde work and community-based projects to critiques similar to debates faced by the Tony Awards and MacArthur Fellows Program regarding transparency, diversity, and institutional bias. Controversies have involved disputes over category definitions, representation of immigrant and Black artists associated with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, and tensions between commercial presenters like Lincoln Center and grassroots venues such as Danspace Project and The Kitchen. Calls for reform have invoked practices from organizations including Dance/USA, New York Foundation for the Arts, and advocacy groups connected to National Coalition for Arts Survivorship and have led to periodic revisions in adjudication procedures and community outreach.

Category:Dance awards