FROM THE FOLKS AT Limón:

Following a national search, the José Limón Dance Foundation has appointed Michelle Preston as incoming Executive Director.
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"I am thrilled to be chosen to lead the José Limón Dance Foundation alongside Artistic Director Dante Puleio and steward the legacy of one of the most influential dancers and choreographers in the history of American modern dance,” Preston remarked. “There is no denying that there are intense field-wide challenges in this moment, but there are also boundless opportunities to address inequity, better care for artists, and build more resilient organizations that serve a broader spectrum of audiences and communities. I am eager to work alongside the dedicated staff, board, and artists of the Limón Foundation to envision an expansive future for both the Company and the Institute, which builds upon the organization's strengths and successes over the past 75 years.”
​Since 2014, Preston has served as the Executive Director of SITI Company, an ensemble theater company based in New York City. While at SITI, Preston led a multi-year planning process to celebrate and preserve the legacy of the ensemble. Her prior experience in New York City also includes work with dance organizations Urban Bush Women, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, and the School of American Ballet.

​Read more here

Nominated by UBW SLI Associate Director and Company Alum Paloma McGregor, the award, which comes with about $250,000, is given to U.S. artists who, as described by the renowned actress Lillian Gish, have made “an outstanding contribution to the beauty of the world” and to people’s “understanding and enjoyment of life.” — Learn more

From the folks at JACK:
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JACK is thrilled to announce the appointment of theater director, writer, and facilitator Skye Kowaleski to join Jordana De La Cruz as Co-Director of JACK. Skye joins the team as JACK’s Founder and Co-Director Alec Duffy transitions out of leadership, fulfilling his original intention to turn over the space after 10 years in order to promote the infusion of fresh energy and ideas. 

Skye joins JACK after a long history of collaboration, including co-directing Daaimah Mubashshir’s Everyday Afroplay and organizing the educational series, An Artist’s Guide to Participating in your Community (Board) with the League of Independent Theater at JACK (and arts spaces across NYC). 

​Go to JACK here

The Dance Industry Census is Now Live!

The Dance Industry Census is a first-of-its-kind effort to count every individual dance worker, dance-related organization, business, group, and project in the New York City dance ecology. 

If your or your organization’s work intersects with or relates to dance and you live and/or work within the New York City metropolitan area, the Dance Industry Census
is for you! 

GET COUNTED IN THE DANCE INDUSTRY CENSUS TODAY

The Dance Industry Census will run from Wednesday, July 20, 2022 until Monday, October 31, 2022 and can be completed online at Dance.NYC/DanceIndustryCensus on mobile or desktop interfaces, or via:
• Paper surveys as made available at survey sites
• Downloadable PDF surveys (link coming soon) submitted via email to research@dance.nyc
• By phone during Dance Industry Census office hours (to be announced) at (212) 966-4452 (voice only)
• In person on designated Survey Days at at designated Survey Sites throughout the metropolitan NYC area
For more information about the Census or additional methods for completing and submitting the Census, please call (212) 966-4452 (voice only) or email research@dance.nyc.

​Join Dance/NYC to celebrate the launch of the Dance. Workforce. Resilience.

(DWR) Initiative at Mark Morris Dance Center on Wednesday, July 20, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. There will be interviews with dance workers, performances by Dance/NYC grantees, food, drink, a dance party, and more.

Featured Speakers

• Antuan Byers, Dancer, Creative Entrepreneur, Arts Activist, Founder of Black Dance Change Makers
• Lucy Sexton, Executive Director, New Yorkers For Culture & Arts
• Pavan Thimmaiah, Artist Choreographer, Director of PMT House of Dance
• River Whittle, Lenapehoking
• Vanessa Hernández Cruz, Disabled Dance Artist, Choreographer, Disability Justice Activist, Dance Artists National Collective, Communications & Social Media Co-Coordinator

Featured Performers

• Monday Blue, DJ, Artist, and Cultural Syncretist
• Rovaco Dance Company
• Zazel-Chavah O’Garra, Founder and Artistic Director, ZCO/DANCEPROJECT

​Find out more here

Congratulations are in order!

The inaugural season of the dance film festival “Past, Present, Future” was recognized for the films “One + One Make Three,” from Katherine Helen Fisher and the artists of Kinetic Light, and “If We Were a Love Song,” from Kyle Abraham and Dehanza Rogers. The ALL ARTS original series “The First Twenty,” which surveyed the first 20 years of the 21st century through art, was nominated for its debut episode “Michael Mwenso Honors George Floyd” and its promotional campaign.

Read more here

​2022 CHITA RIVERA AWARD WINNERS
  
BROADWAY
 
OUTSTANDING CHOREOGRAPHY IN A BROADWAY SHOW                  
**Bill T. Jones, Garrett Coleman, Jason Oremus, Paradise Square    
     
OUTSTANDING MALE DANCER IN A BROADWAY SHOW (tie)
**Myles Frost, MJ the Musical
**Jared Grimes, Funny Girl                                         
 
OUTSTANDING FEMALE DANCER IN A BROADWAY SHOW
**Tendayi Kuumba, for colored girls who have considered suicide/ when the rainbow is enuf
                                                           
OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE IN A BROADWAY SHOW
**for colored girls who have considered suicide/ when the rainbow is enuf
 
OFF BROADWAY SPECIAL RECOGNITIONS
The 2022 Chita Rivera Awards celebrated excellence in Off-Broadway musical theater by presenting two special awards.
 
OUTSTANDING CHOREOGRAPHY IN AN OFF BROADWAY SHOW
**Josh Prince, Trevor 
 
OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE IN AN OFF BROADWAY SHOW
**The Wrong Man
  
CHOREOGRAPHY IN FILM
 
OUTSTANDING CHOREOGRAPHY FOR A THEATRICAL RELEASE
 
**tick… tick… Boom!
Choreographer: Ryan Heffington; (Associate Choreographer: Ryan Spencer)
  
OUTSTANDING DIRECTION OF A DOCUMENTARY RELEASE (tie)
**First Try
Director: Josh Prince
 
**Maurice Hines: Bring Them Back
Director: John Carluccio

​Read more here

​Hsueh-Tung CHEN
June 23, 1947 - June 12, 2022

From Audrey Ross: 
It is with great sadness that I report that on Sunday, June 12, 2022, Hsueh-Tung Chen passed away at the age of 74. H.T. Chen was a loving husband, father and well-known NYC based choreographer.

Born in Shanghai, China and raised in Taipei, Taiwan with his 5 siblings, H.T. moved to New York City to study modern dance. In 1976 he graduated from the Juilliard School, and in 1978 he received an MA in Dance Education from NYU.

At Juilliard, he met his wife, muse and collaborator, Dian Dong. Martha Hill, the director of the Juilliard Dance Division, insisted that Dian be H.T.’s translator, which began many years of working side by side. Together they created Chen Dance Center, a vibrant cultural center in Chinatown, NY which housed a dance company, theater space and dance school: H.T. Chen & Dancers, Arts Gate Center and Mulberry St. Theater, respectively. Plans for restoring the building are underway after a devastating fire, and classes and rehearsals have been relocated. H.T and Dian’s daughters continue the family tradition in the arts with Evelyn performing with Sleep No More and Yeeli working in arts administration.

As a choreographer, H.T. created contemporary dances through the lens of social justice as well as on traditional or personal themes. Laura Molzan of Broadway World wrote of Chen’s recent work South of Gold Mountain, that it “shed a light on the untold stories of immigrants that are far more common than foreign, and that light shone brilliantly.” Jennifer Dunning of The New York Times spoke more broadly: “Mr. Chen has long been one of New York dance's most persuasive storytellers, addressing issues of acculturation well before they become fashionable in dance.”

In addition to choreography, H.T. was an advocate for the performing arts - serving on numerous arts panels. He believed in the transformative power of the arts to lift the human spirit. His company conducted extensive educational programming and outreach in communities nationwide as well as in Europe and Asia. He received numerous awards and recognition for his work, including a BESSIE Special Citation, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Organization of Chinese Americans, and Mid-Career Award from the Martha Hill Dance Fund. 

H.T. was passionate about gardening, coin collecting and befriending every dog in sight. He possessed a childlike wonder and approach to life which led him to see beauty and art in everything and everyone he crossed paths with. He planted seeds of art wherever he was so that the arts will continue to thrive in the next generations.

H.T. Chen is survived by his wife Dian, two daughters, three siblings, as well as numerous nieces & nephews, friends & family.

A celebration of his life is being planned for the Fall. 

​Read more here

​Torya Beard is the inaugural awardee for the Creative & Independent Producer Alliance (CIPA) and the Association of Performing Arts Professionals (APAP)!

​Established in 2022 by APAP and CIPA, the CIPA Award for Outstanding Achievement in Creative Producing (Creative Producing Award) recognizes a US-based Independent Creative Producer working in the live performing arts, whose inventive spirit in the independent sector and body of work have had a significant impact on the field of performing arts, an artist(s), and/or a body of work--

Read more here