The evening moved from looking to the future to looking to the past, as editor at large Wendy Perron spoke about the dance artists who were recognized with the first posthumous Dance Magazine Awards. As we strive for visibility and the capacity to dream without boundaries,” he hoped that we would continue to ask each other the questions that he said have granted him his success and visibility: What do you need? What do you want? How can I help you? Joan Finkelstein, Omar Román De Jesús, and ASL interpreter Selena Flowers. Presenting to De Jesús, Finkelstein said he was being recognized for his choreography “that blends virtuosity and naturalism to mine issues of identity, love, queerness, injustice, Latinidad, and the quest for community and agency, and for articulating and implementing Boca Tuya’s mission to create visibility for, support, and uplift emerging Latinx dance artists and choreographers.” In accepting the award, De Jesús said, “As artists, it is vital that we hold on to the hope of our own promise. Art remains one of the most advanced pieces of technology we have as a species.” Amadi “Baye” Washington, Sam “Asa” Pratt, and ASL interpreter Selena Flowers. I think dance is uniquely positioned as an art form that can liberate thought into indeterminacy and to widen toward multiplicity instead of narrowing towards one singular thesis. Photo by Christopher Duggan.įinkelstein praised Baye & Asa for their work in which they “create political metaphors, interrogate systemic inequities, and contemporize ancient allegories,” as well as “for building theatrical contexts that simultaneously celebrate, implicate, and condemn the characters onstage, and for your courage and heart in confronting our contemporary reality of violence while communicating the absolute necessity for empathy.” During their acceptance speech, Pratt reflected, “In a contemporary world, there’s a lot of pressure to put yourself into a camp, to distill, succinctly and uncompromisingly, what you believe and where you stand. This was followed by filmed excerpts of recipient Omar Román De Jesús’ choreography performed by his company Boca Tuya, Bruce Wood Dance, and BalletCollective, showcasing slippery partnering and theatrical, offbeat imagery. “I will ask the people in the front row to make sure your legs are close to your chairs,” Finkelstein warned with a smile before recipients Baye & Asa (Amadi “Baye” Washington and Sam “Asa” Pratt) took to the stage to perform an intense, athletic, arresting duet from their Collective Bargain. Awarded to dance artists within the first decade of their choreographic career, Promise Awards include an unrestricted $5,000 grant and 40 hours of studio space ( funded by the net proceeds from the Dance Magazine Awards) with no requirement for a final product. The evening kicked off with the Harkness Promise Awards, presented by Harkness Foundation for Dance executive director Joan Finkelstein. There was a pervasive sense of welcoming and embrace from the audience as honorees named and thanked family, teachers, friends, students, and supporters as editor in chief Caitlin Sims commented, “One of my favorite part of the Dance Magazine Awards is seeing the warmth, enthusiasm, and love with which the dance community supports each other.” Watching this year’s Dance Magazine Awards ceremony at 92NY (sponsored by 92NY, University of the Arts, and The O’Donnell-Green Music and Dance Foundation), I was reminded of something Lar Lubovitch said in his acceptance speech in 2016: “I am not really sure why we dance, but it appears to be part of human nature that our bodies take over when something inexpressible needs to be said.” With a wide range of spoken, signed, and movement languages, the 2023 awards celebrated the singular contexts and voices of the awardees, all of whom are connected by their dedication to the field of dance-and, in keeping with the theme of this year’s awards, dance education.
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