The Bessies recognizes the hardship and disappointment associated with the loss of the opportunity for artists to perform live work in the NYC metropolitan area this season. As such, The Bessies has approved the following one-time change in Bessies eligibility for the 2020 awards:
Any program that was scheduled to be performed live in metropolitan New York that has been cancelled because of the health crisis, but reformatted for LIVE digital presentation can be considered for a Bessie in the category that it would have fallen under had it not been cancelled. This is not an additional award. In short, eligibility requirements for consideration in 2020 are as follows:
- The live performance must have been announced prior to March 16, 2020, and the performances must have been scheduled to take place in a theater in the New York metropolitan area, in front of an audience, during the period March 16 - June 1, 2020
- The program must have been presented LIVE in an online format; consideration may be given to digital reproductions of performances that were presented LIVE and recorded
- Internet-only work is excluded from consideration
- These performances will be considered under the category of the originally scheduled program (i.e. Outstanding Production, Outstanding Revival, Outstanding Design, etc)
- At present, these criteria will only apply to The Bessies the 2019-20 awards year.
Wishing you all the best in working through this uncertain and disrupting period. Dance is an art form characterized by strength, resilience, and cooperation. These qualities will serve our community well now and well into the future.