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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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
May 3, 2007
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CONTACT: Rachel Heavers
(202) 533-1886
rheavers@wpas.org
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Fabian Barnes and Yvonne Edwards Receive
2007 Pola Nirenska Awards from WPAS
Washington, D.C. – Washington Performing Arts Society, in association with the Pola Nirenska Award Committee, announces the 2007 Pola Nirenska Award recipients, Fabian Barnes for Contemporary Achievement in Dance and Yvonne Edwards for Lifetime Achievement. The Pola Nirenska Awards are given annually to two individuals who have demonstrated outstanding contributions, artistic excellence or potential, or devoted service to dance. Dr. Jan Karski established the awards in 1993 in memory of his wife, Pola Nirenska, a modern dancer, choreographer, and teacher. The award is presented by Washington Performing Arts Society, which hosts the annual selection committee of dance professionals. Both recipients are scheduled to receive their awards at the Seventh Annual Metro D.C. Dance Awards Ceremony on Monday, September 10 at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater.
When Oprah Winfrey gave Fabian Barnes and the Dance Institute of Washington a $100,000 Use Your Life Award in 2000, she said of his work, “You have helped hundreds of boys and girls discover their strengths, their grace, their spirit, and you have given them wings to fly.” Barnes’ work and life embody a commitment to dance and to helping others through the art form. As the founder and artistic director of the Dance Institute of Washington (DIW), the largest African American nonprofit arts organization in the Washington metropolitan area, Barnes shares the life-changing potential of dance with thousands of underserved children each year in D.C. As a soloist with Arthur Mitchell’s Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH) for 15 years, he honed his craft and left with a renewed commitment to return to his roots to share his knowledge and passion.
DIW offers three core programs: the education outreach program, the pre-professional school of dance, and a professional dance company, Washington Reflections. Many of the schools’ students are on scholarship – receiving free classes as well as dance attire and footwear – and others are able to attend thanks to a sliding payment scale. In November of 2006, the Dance Institute of Washington celebrated the grand opening of its new state-of-the-art dance facility located at 3400 14th Street NW in the redeveloping neighborhood of Columbia Heights. The new building stands as a symbol of cultural revitalization and renewed hope to a community once devastated by riots following the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Born the tenth child to a financially struggling single mother in Seattle, Washington, Barnes discovered dance at age 11 when he followed one of his older brothers to a dance class. He was made an apprentice to the Pacific Northwest Ballet Company at the age of 16. In 1979, he joined DTH as an apprentice and quickly rose to the rank of soloist. While performing with DTH, Barnes was featured in much of the company’s repertoire and toured extensively throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa. During his summer break from DTH in 1987, Fabian founded the Dance Institute of Washington as a summer intensive dance training program. He wanted to give DC children the same opportunity to dance and develop talents that he had. In 1996, Barnes retired from professional dance to devote himself full time to his mission of improving the lives of underserved children through the arts. In 2002, he founded Washington Reflections Dance Company, a professional ensemble of dancers and choreographers that has impressed audiences and critics alike with dynamic contemporary ballet and modern dance performances.
Barnes has served as Artist-in-Residence for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Education Department and the Seattle Public School System. He has taught master classes across the country and served as a panelist in the Events for Students Ballet Master Class Series from 1997 to 2003. He was an adjunct professor in the University of the District of Columbia department of dance and served as an instructor at many other institutions. For his work at DIW and in the community, Mr. Barnes has received numerous awards and recognition, including the prestigious Linowes Leadership Award from the Community Foundation of the National Capital Region (2000), “American Heroes” recognition from the CNN Network (2001), and the Founder’s Award from the Cultural Alliance of Greater Washington (2004).
Yvonne Edwards, the recipient of the Pola Nirenska Lifetime Achievement award, is a native Washingtonian and co-founder of one of the nation’s preeminent learning facilities for tap dance, Knock On Wood studio. Since opening in 1994, Knock On Wood Tap Studio has redefined conventional tap dance, serving a diverse student body and offering classes for all levels and age groups in Silver Spring, Maryland. Affectionately known as D.C.’s celebrated “Tap Lady,” Edwards has been dancing, teaching, and choreographing for more than 50 years. A beloved teacher and choreographer, one of her students has gone on to form their own company, and many have gone on to perform on Broadway, television, and movies.
In 2001, Edwards was the resident artist for the Atlanta Black Dance Conference and in 2000, she was the resident artist for the Morgan State University Dance Company. She has taught master classes at the International Conference of Black Dance in Atlanta, the Chicago Human Rhythm Project, and at the New York City Tap Festival, as well as throughout the mid-Atlantic region. Knock On Wood Tap Studio has hosted master classes by La Vaughn Robinson, Baakari Wilder, Josh Hilberman, Brenda Bufalino, Anne Kilkelly, Barbara Duffy, and Lane Alexander, among others.
Edwards is the Assistant Director of Tappers With Attitude Youth Ensemble, the resident company of Knock On Wood Tap Studio, which brings tap dance to audiences across the D.C. metro area and beyond and cultivates innovative choreography that redefines conventional tap dance. The diverse ethnic, economic, and geographic backgrounds of company members reminds audiences of the rich history of percussive dance in cultures around the world. The company also serves as repertory ensemble for established and emerging local and national tap choreographers and includes Edwards’s choreography in the repertoire of Tappers With Attitude.
A longtime participant in Washington Performing Arts Society’s Concerts in Schools Program, since the late 1980’s. In 1993 she was the recipient of the “Contribution to Dance in the District” award presented by the DC Ensemble, DC Arts and Humanities, and DC Art Works. She has been honored by the International Association of Blacks in Dance, and was named “Tap Teacher of the Year” by the American Tap Dance Foundation. In 2006, she received the Metro DC Dance Award for “Outstanding Achievement in Dance Education” and the “Excellence in the Arts and Humanities Award for Education” at the Executive’s Ball of Montgomery County, MD.
WPAS is committed to making every event accessible for persons with disabilities. Please call the WPAS Ticket Services Office for more information on accessibility to the various theaters in which our performances are held. Services offered vary from venue to venue and may require advance notice.
Washington Performing Arts Society has created profound opportunities for connecting the community to artists, in both education and performance. Through live events in venues that criss-cross the landscape of the D.C. metropolitan area, the careers of emerging artists are guided, and established artists who have bonded with the local audience are invited to return. In this way, the space between artists and audiences is eliminated, so that all may share life-long opportunities to deepen their cultural knowledge, enrich their lives, and expand their understanding and compassion of the world through the universal language of the arts.
American Airlines® is the official airline of Washington Performing Arts Society’s 2006/2007 Season.
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