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| j. Bui Zai Message from Mx. Blake Cooper (Photo: Rachel Keane) |
New York Dance and Performance Awards Bessie announced its 2023 winners tonight at the 39th Annual Bessie Awards. Distinguished Blacks hosted this year’s celebration, held at Lincoln Center’s Damrosch Park as part of Lincoln Center’s Summer in the City. The full list of 2023 awards is below.
Renowned dancer, singer and actor Dionne Figgins presents the 2023 Dance Lifetime Achievement Award to Virginia Johnson. Artist and dance advocate Porshia A. Derival and Ms. Vee presented Michele Byrd-McPhee with the 2023 Distinguished Service Award in Dance. Other speakers include Taylor Ashley, Clifton Brown, George Faison, Erin Fogarty, Diane Harvey Salaam, Charisma Jay, Gian Marco· Ricardo Lo Forte, Abdeslam and Paz Tanjuacquiao.
Barkha Patel won the 2023 Bessie Jury Award, selected by the 2023 Bessie Jury Luciana Achugar, Ayodele Casel and Kyle Marshall. The Jury Award recognizes a choreographer who is demonstrating some of the most interesting and exciting dance concepts in New York City today and whose work deserves greater attention outside the city. The award comes with touring support from DanceForce New York and other participation opportunities.
Vicky Capote of the New York City Dance Association, Alton Murray, deputy director of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, Lucy Sexton, executive director of the New York Department of Arts and Culture, and Heather Robles, executive director of Bessies, also spoke at the ceremony.
The ceremony included audience participation in a dance tribute to O’Shea Sibley. Dance Theater of Harlem performs Stanton Welch’s duet “Orange” in honor of Virginia Johnson. “Unbroken” by Fredrick Earl Mosley performed by his company Diversity of Dance, excerpts from “The Fabulous Waack Dancers Big Show” by Princess Lockeroo and performed by AbunDancers Youth The Afro-Acro performance by Ensemble is also on the stage.
The Besseys also paid tribute to members of the dance community who passed away in the past year. Dancers Mireicy Aquino and Jhailyn Farcon performed a touching performance of “In Memoriam”.
The festivities continued with the Bessies Silent Disco afterparty at Lincoln Center’s Josie Robertson Plaza, featuring DJ Sabine Blaizin.
The 2023 Bessie Awards are produced by Torya Beard and Heather Robles.
2023 New York Dance and Performance Awards Winners and Honorees:
Dance Lifetime Achievement Award
As a founding member and principal dancer of Dance Theater of Harlem, she has inspired audiences with her energetic performances for 28 years. In her role as Artistic Director of Dance Theater of Harlem, she continued the company’s tradition of innovation and excellence while expanding its reach and impact through collaborations with other organizations. Founded “Pointe” magazine and served as editor-in-chief for nearly ten years. Editorial Vision brings diverse voices and perspectives to the forefront of the dance community. As a renowned dancer, editor and artistic director, he devoted his life to the arts and made significant contributions to the world of dance.
Distinguished Service Award in Dance
As an incredible force in the global dance community, especially as an advocate for young girls and women in hip-hop. As founder and executive director of Ladies of Hip-Hop, Byrd-McPhee has been working for decades to reframe spaces and conversations about hip-hop along gender, cultural, socio-historical and racial lines. Her vision for women of all generations in hip-hop has created opportunities for them to perform on the concert dance stage, teach at the most prestigious dance institutions, and create incredible opportunities for themselves within the hip-hop legacy.
Outstanding Choreographer/Creator
Tasha Barnes
LaTasha Barnes presents The Jazz Continuum at the Joyce Theater
A joyful celebration of jazz dance throughout history, Barnes uses imposed stage settings to engage in communal experiences, demonstrating community as the center of the form. This production offers the viewer a (re)embodiment, demonstrating seamless transitions between styles, demonstrating the technical virtuosity of the actors and the deep creativity and thoughtfulness of the creators.
Dormeshia Tap Collective: Joyce Theater Rhythm Is Life
Used to create outstanding interactions between movement, sound, performer and improvisation. Full of humanity, rooted in tradition and joy, Dormeshia shows us the past, present and future of tap dance.
Tiger hand in the shed
This is a beautiful work that is an incredibly sensitive exploration of personal and cultural identity. The work creates a new movement vocabulary that not only carries the resonant memory of the traditional Peking Opera dance form, but also incorporates sparkling novel elements to pay tribute to the beloved mother.
New York burns in Guggenheim’s work and process
Perfectly capturing the intergenerational black experience, it pays homage to the dancers and artists featured in the classic documentary Paris Is Burning. This production is a gorgeously joyful, quirky collection of dance and music stories. A timeless tribute, it highlights the Afro, house, hipster and ballroom communities and their current cultural relevance, prioritizing the diversity of dancer bodies and showcasing the power of Black dance and music.
Outstanding Performer
j. buoy
In a message from Mx. Black Copper, by J. Bue at the Judson Church Movement Research Center
An exciting performance that embodies black joy. The work is an exploration of emotion and movement, evoking love, trauma, honesty and progress. The show is thoughtful, unapologetic, and a celebration of life, self, and ancestry.
“Ayodele Cassel: Joyce Theater” Ayodele Cassel’s “Chasing Magic”
Castro’s showmanship and compelling stage presence provide fun, energy and mastery, especially in the connection between percussionist and dancer. The clear outlines of her performance expose the audience to Afro-Latin influences and inherent tap rhythms, and she displays fluid performance in a variety of styles.
Ronald K. Brown’s “Grace,” “Day and Night,” and “The Open Door” at the Joyce Theater
A refined expression that brings presence and personality to the work of Ronald K. Brown. Edwards exudes irrefutable power, depth, warmth, reverence, belief and connection.
Albert Sirin Dukule Ibokwe Khoza
So you see…our noble blue skies and eternal sunshine…can only be consumed piece by piece…Robyn Orlin of New York Live Arts
A uniquely over-the-top, shocking and gorgeous performance that transcends genre, this is an unforgettably commanding performance that reveals a deeper truth.
In the Room Upstairs (1986/2022)
By Twyla Tharp, New York City Center
Create carefully crafted and timeless pieces of dance art. In the Upper Room combines choreography, costumes, music and lighting to create an extraordinary experience for both audience and performers. A riveting soundtrack combines with bold choreography to create an experience of raw power and grace.
Outstanding sound design/music composition
Charles Turner and Sean Mason
LaTasha Barnes presents The Jazz Continuum by LaTasha Barnes at the Joyce Theater
Live your dream of a New York City musical arrangement that pays homage to an era of black music, from authentic jazz to hip-hop classics. The audience was wonderfully taken on a rollercoaster ride of musical nostalgia that made one want to cry, dance, and move with joy! From piano keys to DJ turntables, from Harlem jazz clubs to Brooklyn playgrounds, this arrangement is truly a delight, showcasing the magic of the jazz continuum.
Excellent visual design
Tina Tzoka and Loukas Bakas (set design), Stephanos Droussiotis (lighting design), Nektarios Dionysatos (sculptures and special structures), Dimitris Korres (mechanical inventions)
Horizontal orientation by Dimitris Papaioannou, Brooklyn Academy of Music
For a team of designers, the scenes they create transcend people’s imagination and amaze them. The team are the “David Copperfields” of the field, with wide-ranging imaginations that create the magic and fiction of theatre.
Outstanding Breakthrough Choreographer
A deeply personal and profoundly joyful study of movement through choreographic practices based in American and West Indian traditions. Combining movement practice with rigorous archival research requires living in the present. Create space in this practice to engage with the many ideas that arise on the spot and to be able to move between them and let go.
Jury Bessie Awards 2023
For his graceful and brilliant creation, education and sharing of work that elevates classic Indian and Kathak dance. Deeply rooted in the spiritual and cultural history of her art form, Patel is a contemporary voice who will contribute to the development of Kathak and its place in the dance community at large.
2022-2023 Bessie Award Selection Committee: Tyler Ashley, Elizabeth Burke, Tymberly Canale, Yoshiko Chuma, Donna Costello, Porshia A. Derival, Tiffany Geigel, Valerie Green, Satsu Holmes, William Isaac, Anabella Lenzu, Gian Marco Riccardo Loe Fort , Shaleva McCall, Yoko Murakami, Ivan Taljancic and Kate Thomas.
Bessies Steering Committee: Paz Tanjuaquio (Chair), Yvonne H. Chow, Stanford Makishi, Maura Nguyễn Donohue, Nicky Paraiso, Craig Peterson, Tiffany Rea-Fisher, George Emilio Sanchez, and Charmaine Warren.
