The New York Dance and Performance Awards, also known as the Bessie Awards, are awarded annually for exceptional achievement by independent dance artists presenting their work in New York City. The broad categories of the awards are: choreography, performance, music composition and visual design. The Bessie Awards were established in 1983.
History and description
The Bessie Awards were established in 1983 by
Dance Theater Workshop and named in honor of
Bessie Schonberg, an influential mid-20th-century teacher of modern dance and former head of the dance department at
Sarah Lawrence College. The awards honor exceptional choreography, performance, music composition and visual design in dance and allied art forms.
Nominees and award winners are chosen by the Bessie Selection Committee, which consists of dancers, dance presenters, producers, choreographers, journalists, critics and academics.
Since 2010, the awards have been overseen by an independent steering committee in partnership with Dance/NYC and administered by
Lucy Sexton.
In their current iteration, the awards encompass a broader range of dance genres and supporting art forms than in the past, and offer an annual commission to an emerging artist.
Recipients
Over 400 Bessie Awards have been presented since their founding. Notable recipients include:
Choreographers
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Arthur Aviles
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LaTasha Barnes
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Jérôme Bel
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Beverly Schmidt Blossom
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Camille A. Brown
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Trisha Brown
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Donald Byrd
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Ann Carlson
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Ping Chong
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Yoshiko Chuma
* Leslie Cuyjet
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Garth Fagan
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Molissa Fenley
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William Forsythe
* Beth Gill
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Guillermo Gómez-Peña
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Joe Goode
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David Gordon
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Bill Irwin
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Bill T. Jones
William Tass Jones, known as Bill T. Jones (born February 15, 1952), is an American Choreography, choreographer, director, author and dancer. He is the co-founder of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. The company's home in Manhattan. J ...
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Lisa Jones
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Carl Hancock Rux
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Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker
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Alonzo King
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Stephan Koplowitz
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Édouard Lock
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Meredith Monk
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Mark Morris
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Tere O'Connor
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Stephen Petronio
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Inbal Pinto
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Joya Powell
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Angelin Preljocaj
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David Roussève
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Pam Tanowitz
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Raúl Tamez
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Saburo Teshigawara
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Muna Tseng
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Doug Varone
* Johanna Boyce
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Jawole Willa Jo Zollar
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Robert Wilson
* Christopher Williams
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Mariana Valencia
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Wim Vandekeybus
Composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and def ...
s
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David Byrne
David Byrne (; born May 14, 1952) is an American musician, writer, visual artist, and filmmaker. He was a founding member, principal songwriter, lead singer, and guitarist of the American New wave music, new wave band Talking Heads.
Byrne has ...
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James Baker
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Anthony Davis
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Peter Laurence Gordon
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Julius Hemphill
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Lenny Pickett
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Dan Siegler
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Hahn Rowe
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David Van Tieghem
Designers
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Charles Atlas
Charles Atlas (born Angelo Siciliano; October 30, 1892December 24, 1972) was an American bodybuilder best remembered as the developer of a bodybuilding method and its associated exercise program which spawned a landmark advertising campaign ...
*
Powers Boothe
* Kyle Chepulis
* Beverly Emmons
* David Ferri
* Kathryn Kaufmann
* Peter Ksander
* Mark Lancaster
* Susanne Poulin
* Stan Pressner
* Philip Sandström
* Howard S. Thies
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Jennifer Tipton
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Philip Trevino
*Casper Stracke &
Benton C Bainbridge
An archive of past recipients is available at the Bessies web site.
References
{{Reflist
External links
The Bessie Awards Web site
American dance awards
Dance in New York City
Awards established in 1983
1983 establishments in New York City