The Metro DC Dance Awards
c/o Dance/MetroDC
1111 16th Street, NW, Ste. 300
Washington, D.C. 20036
Phone: (202) 778-1190
Fax: (202) 833-2686
info@mdcda.org
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Press for the 2005 Metro DC Dance Awards
Meisha Bosma Steps to the Fore
Choreographer and Washington Ballet Dominate Awards
By Pamela Squires
Special to The Washington Post
Wednesday, September 28, 2005; Page C04
They kept coming back for more.
Choreographer Meisha Bosma and the Washington Ballet folks returned for
award after award at the fifth annual Metro DC Dance Awards, held Monday
night in the Kennedy Center's Terrace Theater. Bosma, who won last year
for outstanding new work ("I Love, I Don't"), took the category again
for "Blind Spot." She also picked up trophies for emerging choreographer
and outstanding individual performance in a dance production.
The Washington Ballet began its roll at the top of the evening, with the
company's school winning for youth performance. Artistic Director
Septime Webre bounded onstage twice to accept awards for outstanding
overall production for "The Nutcracker" (large venue) and the studio
series "7x7" (small venue). For his work on the company's production of
"Rite of Spring," Nicholas Phillips won for stage design/multimedia.
The Pola Nirenska Award, given by the Washington Performing Arts Society
to a noted performer, choreographer or mentor to area dancers, was
presented to dance critic Jean Batty Lewis and choreographer Ed Tyler.
Dancer and choreographer Beth Davis received the Alan M. Kriegsman Award
(named for the longtime Washington Post dance critic), which recognizes
long-term achievement, for her work with "In Good Company" and the Hall
of Mirrors Performance Series.
Two-time nominee troupe Step Afrika! made it to the dais this year for a
well-deserved outstanding group performance in a dance production.
Performances by BosmaDance, Jessica Marchant, Liz Lerman Dance Exchange
and Coyaba Dance Theater, and a special performance tribute to the late
Eric Hampton filled out the program.
Other winners:
Sound design or original composition: Naoko Maeshiba
Emerging performer: Eileen Schwartz
Costume design: Balafon West African Dance Ensemble
Dance education: Naima Prevots
Lighting design: Catherine Eliot
Press for the 2004 Metro DC Dance Awards
Dance Community Honors Its Best
By Clare Croft
The Washington Post, September 2004
The Washington dance community prides itself on offering support to a
wide range of dance, dancers and choreographers. The fourth annual Metro
D.C. Dance Awards, held Monday in the Kennedy Center's Terrace Theater,
managed to strike a balance between celebrating the entire community's
efforts and honoring excellent artistry.
Winners made it through a three-round selection process; an 11-member
committee makes final selections. Among the honored were Washington Ballet,
which won for the studio series "7x7," and Dana Tai Soon Burgess and
Company, who won for Burgess's tender abstraction of his family's immigrant
experience, "Tracings."
All awards but one singled out performances from the 2003-04 season.
Choreographer Liz Lerman received the Alan M. Kriegsman Award (named for the
longtime Washington Post dance critic), recognizing long-term achievement.
Presenting the award, Washington Performing Arts Society President Emeritus
Douglas H. Wheeler commended Lerman's "excellence, innovation and community
building."
Performances by Arachne Dance Arts, Tappers With Attitude Youth Ensemble,
Ziva's Spanish Dance Company, Young Dancers of the Washington Ballet,
Ludovic Jolivet, Tiempo de Tango and Burgess's company rounded out the
program.
The winners:
Emerging Choreography: Jessica Marchant.
Stage Design/Multimedia: Nejla Yatkin.
Sound Design or Original Composition: Charlie Barnett for DanceSmith.
Group Performance in a Dance Production: Coyaba Dance Theater for its
February 2004 Dance Place performance.
Youth Performance: Tappers With Attitude for its May 2004 Millennium
Stage performance.
Costume Design: Judy Hansen for Dana Tai Soon Burgess and Company.
Emerging Performer or Group: Pinling Lin for NY2 Dance.
Individual Performance in a Dance Production: Connie Fink for Jane
Dudley's "Harmonica Breakdown" with CityDance Ensemble.
Lighting Design: Robin Lyttle for Deborah Riley Dance Projects.
New Work: Meisha Bosma for "I Love, I Don't."
Achievement in Dance Education: Lynn Welters.
Overall Production in a Small Venue: The Washington Ballet for "7x7."
Overall Production in a Large Venue: Dana Tai Soon Burgess for
"Tracings."
Alan M. Kriegsman Award: Liz Lerman.
Press for the 2002 Metro DC Dance Awards
Fancy Feat:
The Metro D.C. Awards
By Lisa Traiger
Special to The Washington Post
Wednesday, September 11, 2002; Page C11
Once in a while it's all right to take a moment to pat yourself on the back. On Monday evening the dancers, choreographers, teachers, composers, designers and presenters who make up the Washington area dance community did just that. The second annual
Metro D.C. Dance Awards at Lisner Auditorium began with a moment of reflection -- as do many artistic endeavors this month -- memorializing those lost last Sept. 11 and proclaiming the importance of artists in the nation's healing process.
Awards founder and director Cheles Rhynes summed up his goals, as well as those of the dance community: "Making art, creating art, sharing art is what we do best." Then emcee
Holly Bass suavely conducted the proceedings, which included performances by 10 area professional, semi-professional and student dance companies.
The opening quartet of companies, neatly tied together by Helanius Wilkins's direction, featured 11 brilliantly costumed dancers of the
Silk Road Dance Company in "Raqs-i-Peri," a traditional Persian dance about fairylike creatures whose undulating arms, torsos and hips enchant mortals. Jazz, contemporary and hip-hop dancers followed.
A pair of solos, Vincent Thomas's "Frustration in a Martini (Part I)" and
Vladimir Angelov's "Chinook," danced by Connie Fink, favored choreographic repetition to pinpoint thematic development. Thomas, a bold mover, relied on simple, looping leg gestures, upward reaching and stage-encircling runs, all set to the warm tones of the prelude from Bach's Suite No. 1 for Unaccompanied Cello. Fink's dancing, propelled by
Francesca Jandasek's score, played live, wrestled with the wild and the contained.
Lucy Bowen-McCauley excerpted a section from her muscularly tense "Musica Ricerata" to the stringent Ligeti score of the same name. Gesel Mason directed a witty tableau by performers from
CatScratch Theater that toyed with the award nomination process, while
Sharon Mansur contributed "Impact," a structured movement improvisation for four dancers and composer
Alexandra Gardner's computer-generated sounds.
There aren't many award competitions where nominees take themselves out of the running, but that's what happened so the special recognition award would go to
Carla Perlo, the visionary founder and artistic director of Dance Place, the city's most prolific, fearless and enduring presenter of contemporary and world dance.
Dance writer Suzanne Carbonneau and choreographer Deborah Riley presented former
Washington Post critic Alan M. Kriegsman with a special citation for his longstanding dedication to nurturing dance in the region.
For the second year, Dana Tai Soon Burgess was honored in the category of outstanding overall production, for "Helix," "Gandhara" and "The Silk Roads," while
Gesel Mason's Sally Hemings Project received recognition for outstanding artistic direction.
The Washington Ballet walked away with two awards: outstanding group performance in a dance production and excellence in costume design, both for Artistic Director Septime Webre's "Journey Home."
Ed Tyler's "Expose" won a pair of statuettes for scenic design and outstanding new work.
The other awards presented:
Emerging choreographer:
Adrienne Clancy
Excellence in sound design or original composition:
Francesca Jandasek for "Prism," CityDance Ensemble.
Outstanding individual performance in a dance production:
Nejla Yatkin
Emerging performer or group:
The Playground
Excellence in lighting and/or technical design:
Helena Kuukka for Dana Tai Soon Burgess & Company
Outstanding youth performance:
Maryland Youth Ballet
© 2002 The Washington Post Company
The 2001 Metro DC Dance Awards
Successful First Steps
"This first awards ceremony is a step in the right direction."
- Lisa Traiger, Washington Post
The 1st Annual Metro DC Dance Awards took place June 5, 2001 at George Washington University Lisner Auditorium. An enthusiastic audience of over 400 came to appreciate and recognize the diversity of DC's finest in dance.
During the gala ceremony, awards were given in eleven categories, each with four to five nominees.
A special honor was given to the Maida Withers, recipient of the Pola Nirenska Award for Outstanding Contribution to Dance, an award voted on exclusively by a Washington Performing Arts Society (WPAS) committee.
There were stellar performances by ten accomplished dance companies, highlighting the diversity within the dance community. Among them were Lynn Welter's youth ensemble, New School of Dance Arts, as well as artists and/or companies in contemporary/modern, classical, and multicultural/world dance, including Step Afrika!, DC Salseros/Latin Vibes, Smooth & EZ Hand Dancers, Taps & Co.,The Washington Ballet, Karen & Alvin, Coyaba Dance Theater & Daughters of Coyaba, and Rincones and Company. The Pola Nirenska Awardee, Maida Withers and her Dance Construction Company, also gave a special performance.
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