The A.W.A.R.D. Show! Participants:
Manuelito Biag – SHIFT>>>Physical Theater
Kara Davis – project agora
Dominic Duong – sjDANCEco
Liss Fain – Liss Fain Dance
Katie Faulkner – little seismic dance company
Catherine Galasso
Alex Ketley – The Foundry
Jodi Lomask – Capacitor
Pearl Marill
Stacey Printz – Printz Dance Project
Jacinta Vlach – Liberation Dance Theater
Scott Wells – Scott Wells & Dancers
The Joyce Theater Foundation, in partnership with The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago, REDCAT (Los Angeles), Dance Affiliates (Philadelphia), ODC Theater (San Francisco) and On the Boards (Seattle), is pleased to announce the 12 choreographers in each of the six cities who will participate in The A.W.A.R.D Show! 2010–2011. One choreographer from each of these cities will take home a $10,000 award to use toward the creation of a new dance work. The winner will be chosen through a process of performance, moderated discussion and audience voting. Major funding for this program has been provided by The Boeing Company.
A national panel of distinguished dance experts evaluated applications from across the United States for The A.W.A.R.D. Show! series taking place in Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Seattle. The panelists included Martin Wechsler, director of programming of The Joyce Theater Foundation; George Lugg, associate director of the Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater (REDCAT); Lane Czaplinski, artistic director of On the Boards; Phil Reynolds, executive director of The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago; Randy Swartz, artistic director of Dance Affiliates; and Rob Bailis, director of ODC Theater. Each applicant was evaluated according to the P.O.E.M. criteria: Potential, Originality, Execution and Merit.
- Potential: Does the artist have potential and seem to have the maturity to take advantage of such an award at this point in his/her career?
- Originality: Does the artist have a personal and unique voice? Is the work innovative and does it take risks? How singular is the artist’s movement language, concept and vision?
- Execution: Were the performers committed, well-rehearsed and capable of carrying out the intricacies of the artist’s vision?
- Merit: Can a value of the whole be attributed based on the combination of the work’s Potential, Originality and Execution?
The applicants for The A.W.A.R.D. Show! series taking place in New York City at Joyce SoHo were also evaluated according to the P.O.E.M. criteria by a group of thirteen panelists that included dance artists, arts administrators and dance enthusiasts.
Each of the series—in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Seattle—will present the work of 12 promising contemporary choreographers. Three preliminary evenings will feature the work of four choreographers per night. Each dance piece will be 12–15 minutes of a completed work, excerpt or work-in-progress. After each performance, a moderated artist and audience discussion will take place, followed by an audience vote to select a finalist to perform on the fourth and final night of the series. Each night, the audience and the artists will be invited to a post-performance reception to encourage further informal dialogue about the work. On the final night in each city, a panel of experts in dance and other cultural arts fields, along with the audience, will choose the winner of the award.
The first place winner in each of the six participating cities will receive a $10,000 cash award. The two runners-up in each city will receive $1,000. The winners and runners-up will use these awards toward the creation of new dance work. The expansion into Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Seattle is made possible by a generous grant from The Boeing Company. The awards in New York City are underwritten by Scott Kasen.