The organizers of the Bessie Awards, as the annual New York Dance and Performance Awards are known, on Wednesday announced 40 nominees in several categories. Established in 1983, the awards recognize creative and groundbreaking work in choreography, performance, music composition and visual design, and are known as one of the highest honors in the dance world. An awards ceremony is scheduled for Oct. 7 at the Apollo Theater.
At a press conference at the Gibney Dance Cener to announce the nominees, Darrell Jones received the Juried Bessie Award for his choreography. Mr. Jones’s work “Hoo-Ha (for your eyes only),†performed recently at Danspace Project, incorporated voguing moves and slap fights. Joanna Kotze won the Outstanding Emerging Choreographer Award for her work, “It happened it had happened it is happening it will happen,†which was also presented at Danspace Project.
“Darrell and Joanna are two fascinating young choreographers, and we’re thrilled to honor them with these awards,†Lucy Sexton, the Bessies director, said in a statement.
The nominees for outstanding production of a work stretching the boundaries of a traditional form were “Paseo,†choreographed by Joanna Haigood and performed at Dancing in the Streets; “red, black, & Green: a blues,†choreographed by Marc Bamuthi Joseph and presented at the Brooklyn Academy of Music; and “Mo(or)town/Redux,†choreographed by Doug Elkins and presented at the Baryshnikov Arts Center.
Other Bessie categories include outstanding revived work, outstanding production, outstanding performer, outstanding visual design and outstanding composition or sound design.
