The New York Dance and Efficiency Awards, the Bessies, have introduced the 2024 and 2025 award recipients on the 41st Bessie Awards Ceremony. Nicky Paraiso and Patricia Hoffbauer hosted this 12 months’s celebratory occasion, which was held at Dixon Place in NYC. A whole listing of the 2024 and 2025 awards follows beneath.
Bessie Awards have been offered to artists for excellent choreographer/creator, performer, sound design or music composition, visible design, excellent revival, and breakout choreographer — an award that honors an artist who has made an distinctive leap of their profession on this final couple of years.
Music composer and performer, Jonathan Howard Katz, offered his personal composition -Ipseities: No. 4 (2020) and Ipseities: No. 24 (2021).
The 2024 and 2025 Bessie Awards Ceremony was co-produced by Sangeeta Ghosh Yesley and Charles Vincent Burwell.
The 2024 New York Dance and Efficiency Award recipients and citations:
2024 Lifetime Achievement in Dance Award
Dyane Harvey-Salaam
For a lifetime of extraordinary rituals melding dance, theatre, and the profound embodiment of an artist’s method of being. Her presence is a lighthouse, guiding artists towards refuge, braveness, and inspiration. Because the devoted holder and répétiteur of Eleo Pomare’s work, she safeguards what got here earlier than whereas illuminating what continues to be doable. By unwavering generosity and resolve, she teaches us the countless energy of persistence and the artwork of by no means giving up.
Past the studio, her influence radiates by quiet, constant management mentoring artists towards their very own authority, sharpening their craft whereas defending their spirit. She holds house for complexity and retains the trail lit when the street is unsure, reminding us that endurance shouldn’t be an accident however a apply. In honoring her, we honor a lifetime of disciplined care, the uncommon artist who preserves the previous with out freezing it, and who insists, time and again, that what is feasible continues to be unfolding.
Excellent Service to the Discipline of Dance Award
Ballet Tech
Ballet Tech is a cornerstone of American dance training, devoted to coaching the following era of dancers by instilling the talent, self-discipline, and inventive ardour required to excel on this demanding artwork type. In doing so, it not solely preserves the custom of ballet however actively advances its relevance in at present’s world. As the one public college in the US devoted solely to Dance, Ballet Tech uniquely combines high-quality tutorial training with intensive dance coaching by a tuition-free collaboration between the New York Metropolis Division of Schooling and the Ballet Tech Basis.
Serving college students in grades 4 by 8 at its house at 890 Broadway, Ballet Tech has, since 1978, auditioned 900,000 public college youngsters and enrolled 25,430 college students, dramatically increasing entry to excellence for younger folks from all backgrounds — lots of whom would in any other case by no means have the chance to review dance. Its influence extends far past method and efficiency. Ballet Tech creates a vibrant, deeply linked neighborhood the place the shared expertise of studying and performing builds lasting bonds amongst college students, lecturers, and households, providing connection and continuity in an more and more fast-paced and disconnected world.
That sense of neighborhood reaches properly past its lecture rooms, by collaborations with choreographers, dancers, and humanities organizations that generate interdisciplinary work and enrich the broader cultural panorama. Ballet Tech’s alumni have gone on to carry out with main firms together with Alvin Ailey, Dance Theatre of Harlem, New York Metropolis Ballet, Martha Graham Dance Firm, The Jose Limon Dance Firm, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and on Broadway, and to pursue larger training at establishments akin to Juilliard, NYU, Brown, Columbia, and Yale.
In the present day, as we rejoice 47 years of feat and honor Ballet Tech with the 2024 New York Dance and Efficiency Awards — The Bessies Award for Service to the Discipline, we acknowledge an establishment whose dedication to excellence, inclusivity, entry, and neighborhood has profoundly formed the lives of its college students and strengthened the way forward for dance. Underneath the management of Principal Veronica York and Inventive Director Dionne Figgins, Ballet Tech stands as a mannequin of what public training {and professional} arts coaching can obtain collectively, and why its mission continues to deserve our collective help and recognition.
Excellent Visible Design
Reid Bartelme, Harriet Jung, Andrew Jordan
for JEUX + A CHILD’S TALE, Christopher Williams
Baryshnikov Arts Middle
Their costumes captivate and narrate, honoring Ballets Russes innovation whereas powerfully advancing story, character, and ambiance.
Excellent Sound Design or Musical Composition
yuniya edi kwon, Haruko Crow Nishimura, Joshua Kohl of Degenerate Artwork Ensemble
for Boy mom/faceless bloom, Juni One Set
New York Dwell Arts
yuniya edi kwon is a visionary dancer, vocalist, and musician whose interdisciplinary work Boy mom/faceless bloom is each immersive and transformative. In collaboration with Senga Nengudi, the work weaves mythology, autobiography, ritual, and gorgeous duet efficiency into an expansive, otherworldly expertise.
Excellent Revival
The Ceremony of Spring (1975)
Pina Bausch; Restaged by Josephine Ann Endicott, Jorge Puerta Armenta and Clémentine Deluy and a specifically assembled firm of 34 dancers from 14 African international locations for The Pina Bausch Basis, École des Sables & Sadler’s Wells
Park Avenue Armory
Thirty-4 dancers from throughout the African continent — many with out prior modern dance coaching — introduced residing, soulful motion to Stravinsky’s rating, filling the house with breath, presence, and ferocity. Guided with distinctive care by artists who labored intimately with Bausch, the efficiency honored the choreography’s rigor whereas igniting it anew. From the basic staging and soil-covered ground to the facility of Black our bodies in movement, this revival was riveting, masterful, and unforgettable.
Excellent Performer
Abdiel
at Fort Greene Park
Abdiel is a masterful, culturally conscious performer who, in an surprising Brooklyn cypher underneath rain and warmth, danced Latin Hustle at Fort Inexperienced Park with full presence, making a present just by doing what they love.
Paul Hamilton
for CEREMONIA, Antonio Ramos at Abrons Arts Middle
Daring and nuanced, his efficiency celebrates the physique, motion, and expression, leaving a vibrant imprint lingering in a single’s reminiscence.
Edisa Weeks
for 3 Rites: Liberty, DELIRIOUS Dances
at Mark O’Donnell Theater
for 3 Rites: Liberty, Edisa Weeks, DELIRIOUS Dances at Mark O’Donnell Theater
For a piece that mixed rigorous mental, emotional, and corporeal calls for with humor and deep engagement, that includes unforgettable imagery — such because the performer tethered to evocative objects by her hair — masterful facilitation, wonderful visible design, and the communal roots embedded within the backdrop, creating a unprecedented and lasting influence.
The Ceremony of Spring – Ensemble
at Park Avenue Armory
For filling the house with breath, presence, and ferocity. Guided with distinctive care by Germaine Acogny and Malou Airaudo and restaged by Josephine Ann Endicott, Jorge Puerta Armenta and Clémentine Deluy, the efficiency honored Pina Bausch’s choreography with rigor whereas igniting it anew. From the basic staging and soil-covered ground to the facility of Black our bodies in movement, this revival was riveting, masterful, and unforgettable.
Forged: Aoufice Junior Gouri, Amadou Lamine Sow, Amy Collé Seck, Aníque Ayiboe, Anthony Lomuljo, Astou Diop (Tousa), Aziz Zoundi, Babacar Mané, Bazoumana Kouyaté, Brian Otieno Oloo, Carmelita Siwa, Didja Kady Tiemanta, Estelle Foli, Florent Nikiema, Franne Christie Dossou, Gloria Ugwarelojo Biachi, Gueassa Eva Sibi, Harivola Rakotondrasoa, Inas Dasylva, Khadija Cisse, Luciény Kaabral, Oliva Randrianasolo (Nanie), Pacôme Landry Seka, Revenue Fortunate, Rodolphe Allui, Rokhaya Coulibaly, Sahadatou Ami Touré, Serge Arthur Dodo, Shelly Ohene-Nyako, Sonia Zandile Constable, Stéphanie Mwamba, Tom Jules Samie, Vasco Pedro Mirine, Zadi Landry Kipre.
Excellent Breakout Choreographer
Baye & Asa
Childhood pals since first grade have develop into a strong duo. They transfer with certainty, conscious of who they’re and the way the world has seen them. As soon as they begin dancing, highly effective, playful, daring, and jarring; their real presence makes their motion deeply relatable. Their work is rooted in belief, nourished by an extended historical past of connection. Bursting with concepts, their artistry is in full bloom, rising as groundbreaking choreographers.
Excellent Choreographer/Creator
Hyejin Jeong, Sung Hoon Kim, Jaeduk Kim
for One Dance at David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Middle
For a visually mesmerizing, modern reinterpretation of ceremonial Korean conventional dance demonstrating an ideal steadiness between stillness and motion, and culminating in an explosive, athletic, modern dance. For a present that takes you on a journey, and leaves you feeling light-hearted and elated.
Nia Love
for UNDERcurrents
at Harlem Stage
For a transporting expertise, taking the viewers by an immersive and sensory journey of reside efficiency and projected visuals. Historic analysis and private recollections are woven collectively to pose inquiries to the viewers – with urgency and compassion.
Shamel Pitts
for Contact of RED
at New York Dwell Arts
Shamel Pitts crafts a viscerally charged work the place bodily rigor meets emotional intimacy. Contact of RED at New York Dwell Arts explores vulnerability and connection by hypnotic, rhythm-driven motion that fuses boxing footwork, Lindy Hop, and membership tradition, remodeling confrontation right into a shared, communal expertise.
Wanjiru Kamuyu
for A Disguised Welcome…aka An Immigrant’s Story
at The Chocolate Manufacturing facility Theater
An ideal solo: a strong singular presence transforms a deeply private narrative right into a common expertise. By her daring physicality, storytelling, and the easy use of upside-down chairs, she invitations intimacy and connection. The work explores displacement and belonging, which anybody may expertise, with vulnerability, energy, and profound emotional resonance.
The 2025 New York Dance and Efficiency Award recipients and citations:
2025 Lifetime Achievement in Dance Award
Garth Fagan
The generator of a thrillingly distinctive choreographic fashion, Garth Fagan’s artistry manifests humanity. His method threads jazz’s polyrhythms by the specificities of Afro-Caribbean, trendy dance and ballet varieties. Founding a world class dance firm — Garth Fagan Dance in Rochester, NY — Fagan mined the native expertise forming an ensemble of incomparably kinetic dancers. Capable of droop themselves in everlasting balances and levitate with out preparation, the elite dancers reveal the intricacy of Fagan’s thoughts, finally inspiring him for over 5-and-a-half many years. Fagan’s choreography astonishes audiences from the groundbreaking Griot NY created in collaboration with Wynton Marsalis, to Julie Taymor’s Lion King, ballets for Dance Theater of Harlem, New York Metropolis Ballet and numerous live performance halls all around the world. Garth Fagan is a person of uncompromising values and inventive integrity.
Excellent Service to the Discipline of Dance Award
Gibney Dance
Gibney Dance is acknowledged for its long-standing dedication to offering important infrastructure, assets, and management in help of artists and the broader dance discipline. By its constant dedication to entry, fairness, and artist well-being, Gibney has strengthened the circumstances crucial for artistic apply, dialogue, and alternate.
Within the custom of the BESSIE Awards, which acknowledge not solely inventive excellence however lasting contribution to the sphere, Gibney Dance exemplifies service rooted in accountability, care, and continuity. Its work has supported generations of artists and establishments, contributing to a extra resilient and inclusive dance ecosystem.
Excellent Visible Design
Clifton Taylor
for Many Angels for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
at New York Metropolis Middle
An emissary of sunshine and shadow, commanding shade with uncommon authority. Luminous and exact, a world constructed for dancers to inhabit, and for audiences to recollect. Your transcendent manipulation of photons lets us see issues as they could possibly be, inviting us to delight in a heat embrace in Lar Lubovitch’s Many Angels for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at Metropolis Middle.
Excellent Sound Design or Musical Composition
Angie Pittman, Cody Jensen
for Black Life Chord Modifications at Out-Entrance! Competition
at BAM Fisher Hillman Studio
A rigorous, transporting aural world that holds the viewers with care whereas carving a courageous house for Black Life Chord Modifications on the Pioneers Go East Collective’s Out Entrance! Competition at BAM.
Excellent Revival
Grace (1999)
Ronald Ok. Brown
for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
at New York Metropolis Middle
For a piece that returns not as nostalgia however as necessity, Ronald Ok. Brown’s Grace revives the stage as a web site of deliverance the place trendy dance and West African lineage braid right into a communal ritual of radiance, mercy, and ahead movement. Carried out by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at New York Metropolis Middle, this collective prayer is exact, ecstatic, and fiercely human, carrying dancers by pleasure, wrestle, and launch with undiminished energy and heightened relevance.
Excellent Performer
Jacquelin Harris
for Many Angels, Lar Lubovitch for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
at New York Metropolis Middle
With quiet authority and crystal-clear intention, she honored the persevering with legacy of Ailey’s main ladies bringing celestial readability to the terrestrial stage in Lar Lubovitch’s Many Angels for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at New York Metropolis Middle.
Forged of CATS: The Jellicle Ball
at Perelman Performing Arts Middle
For a felicitous requiem of motion and motivation serving the physique politic with prrr prrr vibes and regimented performances juxtaposed with unmatched fabulosity in Cats: The Jellicle Ball at PAC NYC. The place disciplined our bodies in radiant revolt, make neighborhood look inevitable.
Forged: André De Shields, Child Byrne, Bebe Nicole Simpson, Bryce Farris, Capital Kaos, Dava Huesca, Dudney Joseph Jr., Emma Sofia, Garnet Williams, Ivy Mugler, Jenny Mollet, Jonathan Burke, Jovan E’Sean, Junior LaBeija, Kai B. White, Kendall Grayson Stroud, Nora Schell, Phumzile Sojola, Primo, Robert “Silk” Mason, Rodrick Covington, Sydney James Harcourt, Tara Lashan Clinkscales, Teddy Wilson Jr., “Tempress” Chasity Moore, Xavier Reyes, Zachary A. Myers.
Jake Roxander
for Onegin for American Ballet Theatre at Metropolitan Opera Home
at Lincoln Middle
Dancing measured, managed, and alive with that means pulling us into Lensky’s inside life together with his efficiency of John Cranko’s Onegin, carried out by American Ballet Theatre on the Metropolitan Opera Home. With unmistakable urgency and musical intelligence, he met every second with care and braveness.
Home of Juicy + Home of Telfar, Efficiency as a Home,
Draw inspiration from one in every of Alvin Ailey’s iconic dance items
at The Whitney Museum
A sermon of motion that honored ballroom tradition, trendy dance, and new futures in movement, carrying ahead the tales of the marginalized, and those that reside unapologetically on the Whitney Museum for the Ailey Ball.
Home of Juicy Couture – Alexis Wan, Jayden Benbow, Tyreel Simpson, Child Byrne, Mateo Roska, Nicholas Sterling, Shaquill Blanding, Veyonce Deleon, Tyrone Reese.
Home of Telfar – Dava Huesca, Bryce Farris, Omarion Burke, Xavier Villafañe, Travon Williams, Myles Porter.
Excellent Breakout Choreographer
Amy Corridor Garner
Along with her deep Southern lineage, muscular musicality and verve, she spins our bodies into bonfires of pleasure, perseverance, and familial heat on the core. By daring commissions throughout the dance neighborhood, she proves how invention and creativeness cultivates type.
Excellent Choreographer/Creator
Fredrick Earl Mosley
for Unleashed
at Ailey Citigroup Theater
For his enduring dedication to creating dance works and performances, and for fostering cross-generational mentorship and significant neighborhood by his Hearts of Males sequence — increasing visibility, risk, and legacy throughout the discipline.
Lar Lubovitch
for Many Angels
at Metropolis Middle December
For a choreography steeped in yūgen, the quiet, inexhaustible depth of what can solely be steered, this work turns an outdated paradox (“what number of angels can dance on the top of a pin?”) right into a residing thriller. With restraint as virtuosity, Lar Lubovitch’s Many Angels carried out by the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at New York Metropolis Middle makes the smallest house really feel infinite, letting absence, silence, and precision summon the unseen.
Omari Wiles and Arturo Lyons
for CATS: The Jellicle Ball
at Perelman Performing Arts Middle
For an unmatched synthesis of Ballroom Tradition and Musical-Theater mayhem, storytelling included, Arturo Lyons and Omari Wiles conjure a brand new method of being in CATS: The Jellicle Ball at PAC NYC. With feline personas as their runway mythology, they mix gentle and dramatic vogue with Andrew Lloyd Webber’s rating, whipping and dipping it into an unlikely, irresistible potion.
Yoko Murakami
for Blink
at Triskelion Arts
For an imaginative and beautiful use of motion and visuals that attracts viewers into one other dimension, exploring the physique’s existence by gentle, shadow, and the manipulation of notion — inviting us right into a dreamlike state the place time and house mix.
About The Bessies
The New York Dance and Efficiency Awards have saluted excellent and groundbreaking artistic work within the dance discipline in New York Metropolis for 39 years. Often known as “The Bessies” in honor of revered dance instructor Bessie Schönberg, the awards have been established in 1984, by David R. White at Dance Theater Workshop. They acknowledge choreography, efficiency, music composition, visible design, legacy, and repair to the sphere of dance by impartial dance artists and organizations. Nominees are chosen by a variety committee composed of artists, presenters, producers, and writers. All these working within the dance discipline are invited to affix the Bessies Membership and take part in annual discussions on the route of the awards and nominate members to serve on the choice committee.
For extra details about The Bessies, go to www.bessies.org.
