The Metro DC Dance Awards was founded in 2000 by Cheles Rhynes and
Mason/Rhynes
Productions as a means of recognizing excellence in local dance and building
community among DC-area dance artists and organizations. Since its inception,
the MDCDA has produced annual awards ceremonies and developed an online
calendar of dance performances by local artists. The organization is operated
by volunteers who serve on an Awards Committee and a Selection Committee.
For the first awards ceremony in 2001, artists were nominated for awards by a
panel of local dance experts and selected by popular vote. The following year,
MDCDA designed and implemented a three-step voting process which maintains the
involvement of the community, increases the role of artists in the selection of
award winners, and gives dance professionals the last vote in the process.
Categories continue to be added and refined as decided by the Awards Committee.
Dance/MetroDC
, a branch office of
Dance/USA
, the national service organization
for nonprofit professional dance, became the lead organization for MDCDA in
2006. Dance/MetroDC works in conjunction with
The Kennedy Center
and
the Awards Committee to produce the awards ceremony, and other events associated
with MDCDA. MDCDA continues to evolve as an organization which both serves and
celebrates the metropolitan DC/MD/VA dance community.
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