New Bessie Awards process, structure and event announced

An announcement just received from Lucy Sexton

The New York Dance and Performance Awards, aka The Bessies, will take place Monday October 18, 2010 at 8 pm at Symphony Space in New York City. All lovers and supporters of dance are invited! Please come to celebrate dance work being honored and to find out what is happening with New York’s dance awards.

After a hiatus last year, this year’s ceremony will honor the work of the past two years, and launch the format for the new Bessie Awards, which are now under the umbrella of DanceNYC.

Six full productions from 08-09 and six from 09-10 will receive Bessies.

The full creative teams behind each of the shows will be included in the award (choreographers, composers, designers, and performers). In addition, six outstanding performers from the past two years will be honored with Bessie Awards.

There will be speeches and announcements throughout the ceremony by esteemed members of New York’s dance community. They will talk about the historic value of the Bessies, and detail the changes that will be made going forward. Revisions to the Bessies include both new award categories and a new structure for nomination and voting.

The aim is to continue the invaluable mission of the Bessie Awards: to gather the community, to honor outstanding work in the field of dance, and to advocate on a national and international level for the extraordinary range of dance being performed in New York.

Bessies’ new producers

For many years Dance Theater Workshop, Danspace Project, and The Joyce have produced the Bessie Awards. Starting this year, the Bessie Awards will be under the umbrella of DanceNYC. As a wide-ranging dance service organization, DanceNYC is uniquely positioned to be a neutral, transparent, and inclusive home to the historic awards.

Lucy Sexton is the new independent producer of the Bessie Awards. She is working with DanceNYC and the outgoing producing organizations---Dance Theater Workshop, Danspace Project, and The Joyce---during this exciting and invigorating transition period. Please contact her with any questions about The Bessie Awards: thebessies@gmail.com.

The Bessie Committee

The committee responsible for choosing award recipients for the 08-09 and 09-10 seasons is: Nolini Barretto, Barbara Bryan, Rashida Bumbray, Lili Chopra, Nancy Dalva, Joan Finkelstein, Boo Froebel, Stephen Greco, Virginia Johnson, Ishmael Houston-Jones, Brad Learmonth, Stanford Makishi, Brian McCormick, Nicky Paraiso, Brian Rogers, Philip Sandstrom, Yoko Shioya, Sydney Skybetter, Ivan Sygoda, Charmaine Warren, and Susan Yung.

The Bessie Steering Committee

The Steering committee responsible for setting policy and shepherding the awards through this transition period is: Michelle Burkhart, Judy Hussie-Taylor, Carla Peterson, Mikki Shepard, Andrea Sholler, Elizabeth Streb, Martin Wechsler, and Reggie Wilson.