In an evening that will likely be remembered as a turning level within the cultural historical past of dance, the first-ever Dance Corridor of Fame ceremony dazzled a full crowd on the Glorya Kaufman Performing Arts Heart on Wednesday, December 3. Visionaries, entertainers, dance legends and Hollywood icons united beneath one roof for an unforgettable tribute to the artists who formed the language of motion.
The ten inaugural inductees, Alvin Ailey, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Stephen “tWitch” Boss, Misty Copeland, Bob Fosse, Martha Graham, Gene Kelly, Kenny Ortega, Jerome Robbins and Twyla Tharp, had been honored with a limited-edition Lalique “Music Is Love” crystal coronary heart, initially crafted with Sir Elton John in assist of the Elton John AIDS Basis. In attendance to just accept their awards had been honorees Baryshnikov, Ortega and Tharp, as was leisure icon Shirley MacLaine, who was offered with the Dance Corridor of Fame Lifetime Achievement Award, which will likely be named the “Dance Corridor of Fame Shirley MacLaine Lifetime Achievement Award,” an award that can carry her identify going ahead.
The star energy was plain from the second the lights dimmed. Acclaimed actor, writer, producer and dancer Channing Tatum; Tony- and Emmy-winning actress, singer and dancer Bebe Neuwirth; Tony Award-nominated actress, singer and dancer Lisa Mordente; and Broadway performer Dylis Croman electrified the room as presenters, every taking the stage to have fun the honorees whose work outlined and redefined what dance might be.
Relations had been additionally in attendance to just accept awards in reminiscence of honorees, together with Bob Fosse’s grandson, Noah Fosse; the spouse of Gene Kelly, Patricia Kelly; and Stephen “tWitch” Boss’s mom, Connie Boss Alexander, and brother, Deondre Rose.
They had been joined within the viewers by dance-world luminaries, together with choreographer of the field workplace hits Depraved and Depraved: For Good, Christopher Scott; award-winning singer, choreographer and actress Toni Basil; Anna Trebunskaya of Dancing with the Stars; and So You Suppose You Can Dance and Dancing With the Stars alumni Chelsie Hightower and Dmitry Chaplin, amongst others, turning the night into a real gathering of legends throughout genres and generations. The night was emceed and hosted by director, author, producer and writer Stuart Ok. Robinson.
From the second the curtain rose, the celebration unfolded like a residing historical past of dance. The Martha Graham Dance Firm delivered a wide ranging, trendy masterwork; So You Suppose You Can Dance All-Stars Consolation Fedoke, Du-Shaunt “Fik-Shun” Stegall and Cyrus Spencer honored tWitch with a robust hip hop tribute that moved many within the viewers to tears; unique choreography from the 1961 movement image West Aspect Story was carried out in tribute to Jerome Robbins; and an electrifying homage to Bob Fosse pulsed with the unmistakable angles, syncopation and perspective of his iconic model. The night time crescendoed with a showstopping efficiency of “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life,” a joyous salute to honoree Kenny Ortega.
The ceremony additionally featured deeply private tribute messages from Goldie Hawn, Hugh Jackman, Gloria Estefan, Kristin Chenoweth, Invoice Medley, Vanessa Hudgens and filmmaker Jon M. Chu, every sharing reminiscences and gratitude for the inductees whose affect formed their very own inventive journeys.
The inaugural Dance Corridor of Fame was conceived and produced by Emmy Award–successful choreographer Anita Mann and seven-time Emmy-winning director Louis J. Horvitz, in collaboration with Jeff Thacker, five-time Emmy-nominated govt producer of So You Suppose You Can Dance. Collectively, they delivered a night that not solely celebrated historical past however made it, guaranteeing that dance, eventually, has a everlasting house to honor its brightest lights.
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