The 38 nominees were selected by the Bessie Awards Selection Committee, an independent committee of 40 dance industry professionals. Produced in partnership with Dance/NYC, Bessie Award categories include Outstanding Production, Outstanding Revival, Outstanding Performer, Outstanding Music Composition or Sound Design, and Outstanding Visual Design. The list of nominations follows.
The 32nd annual Bessie Awards, presented in association with the Brooklyn Academy of Music, will take place on Tuesday, October 18, 2016, at 7:30pm, at BAM Howard Gilman Opera House. “After five glorious years at the Apollo, we are thrilled to be bringing the awards to BAM’s historic opera house,” says Lucy Sexton, Executive Director of the Bessies. “It is in some sense a homecoming—BAM hosted the awards from 1985 to 1990—and it is especially meaningful as Brooklyn is home to so many artists.”
Three 2016 awards were presented at the Bessies press conference: The Outstanding Emerging Choreographer Award was presented to Joya Powell; The award for Outstanding Revival was given to Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder, choreographed by Donald McKayle - performed by the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, produced by Paul Taylor’s American Modern Dance as part of its 2016 season,and this year’s Bessie Jury—Yoshiko Chuma, Liz Gerring, and Bill T. Jones—named Pam Tanowitz the recipient of the 2016 Juried Bessie Award.
The 2016 Bessie Awards Steering Committee, responsible for setting policy and providing oversight of the Bessie Awards throughout the year, is comprised of Cora Cahan, Beverly D’Anne, Lane Harwell, Jeanne Linnes, Stanford Makishi, Nicky Paraiso, Carla Peterson, Tamia B. Santana, Laurie Uprichard, and Martin Wechsler.
The 2015−16 Bessie Awards Selection Committee consists of Diana Byer, Kim Chan, Leah Cox, Nancy Dalva, Maura Donohue, Simon Dove, Angel Feliciano, Boo Froebel, Angela Fatou Gittens, Caleb Hammons, Zhenesse Heinemann, Jerron Herman, Iréne Hultman, Robert LaFosse, Melissa Levin, Matthew Lyons, Harold Norris, Craig Peterson, Mathew Pokoik, Rajika Puri, Susan Reiter, Walter Rutledge, Sue Samuels, Philip Sandstrom, Risa Shoup, Sally Sommer, Risa Steinberg, Carrie Stern, Kay Takeda, Catherine Tharin, David Thomson, Muna Tseng, Kay Turner, Tony Waag, Eleanor K. Wallace, Edisa Weeks, Ryan Wenzel, Adrienne Westwood, William Whitener, and Elizabeth Zimmer.
The following are the 2016 Bessie Nominations:
Outstanding Production:
luciana achugar
An Epilogue for OTRO TEATRO: True Love
Gibney Dance: Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center
Souleymane Badolo
Yimbégré: Replanting roots in the name of freedom
BAM Fishman Space
Camille A. Brown
Black Girl: Linguistic Play
The Joyce Theater
Jack Ferver and Marc Swanson
Chambre
The New Museum co-presented by FIAF
Pat Graney
Girl Gods
Alexander Kasser Theater at Montclair State University
Maria Hassabi
PLASTIC
MoMA
Heather Kravas
dead, disappears
American Realness at Abrons Arts Center
Ralph Lemon
Scaffold Room
The Kitchen
Dada Masilo
Swan Lake
The Joyce Theater
Justin Peck
Heatscape
Miami City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Liz Santoro & Pierre Godard
For Claude Shannon
The Kitchen
Safi A. Thomas with H+ | The Hip-Hop Dance Conservatory
Sleeping Beauty
Flamboyán Theater
Outstanding Performer:
Ephrat Asherie
Sustained Achievement with Dorrance Dance, Doug Elkins, Bill Irwin, Gus Solomon jr., Rennie Harris, Cori Olinghouse, and many others
Nicolas Bruder
In Custodians of Beauty by Pavel Zuštiak
New York Live Arts
Omar Edwards
In FLY
New Victory Theater
Paul Hamilton
For his body of work including Ralph Lemon’s Scaffold Room and the work of Jane Comfort, Keeley Garfield, and others
Parisa Khobdeh
For her body of work with Paul Taylor Dance Company
Kazunori Kumagai
For his body of work including Live at the Blue Note Late Night Groove Series
Jennifer Lafferty
In Catacomb by Beth Gill
The Chocolate Factory
Molly Lieber
For her body of work with several artists including luciana achugar, Maria Hassabi, and Donna Uchizono
Aaron Mattocks
In Big Dance: Short Form by Big Dance Theater
The Kitchen
Gillian Murphy
Sustained Achievement with American Ballet Theatre
Aakash Odedra
In Rising
Skirball Center for the Performing Arts
Jamar Roberts
Sustained Achievement with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
Outstanding Music Composition/Sound Design:
Admanda Kobilka
For Clap Hands by Jen Rosenblit
Invisible Dog Art Center / New York Live Arts
Jeremy Toussaint-Baptiste
For #negrophobia by Jaamil Olawale Kosoko | anonymous bodies
Gibney Dance: Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center
Dan Trueman, Sō Percussion, and Mobius Percussion
For There Might Be Others by Rebecca Lazier
New York Live Arts
Ustatshakirt Plus
For Dream'd in a Dream by Seán Curran
BAM Harvey Theater
Outstanding Visual Design:
Holly Batt
For the visual and set design of Girl Gods by Pat Graney
Alexander Kasser Theater at Montclair State University
Design Team: F. Randy deCelle, Ralph Lemon, Roderick Murray, Naoko Nagata, R. Eric Stone, Mike Taylor, andPhilip White
For the visual design of Scaffold Room by Ralph Lemon
The Kitchen
DD Dorvillier and Thomas Dunn
For the lighting and visual design of Extra Shapes by DD Dorvillier
The Kitchen
Eamonn Farrell
For the new media scenography of Forgiveness by Emily Berry | B3W Performance Group
BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center
The 32nd annual Bessie Awards, presented in association with the Brooklyn Academy of Music, will take place on Tuesday, October 18, 2016, at 7:30pm, at BAM Howard Gilman Opera House. “After five glorious years at the Apollo, we are thrilled to be bringing the awards to BAM’s historic opera house,” says Lucy Sexton, Executive Director of the Bessies. “It is in some sense a homecoming—BAM hosted the awards from 1985 to 1990—and it is especially meaningful as Brooklyn is home to so many artists.”
Three 2016 awards were presented at the Bessies press conference: The Outstanding Emerging Choreographer Award was presented to Joya Powell; The award for Outstanding Revival was given to Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder, choreographed by Donald McKayle - performed by the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, produced by Paul Taylor’s American Modern Dance as part of its 2016 season,and this year’s Bessie Jury—Yoshiko Chuma, Liz Gerring, and Bill T. Jones—named Pam Tanowitz the recipient of the 2016 Juried Bessie Award.
The 2016 Bessie Awards Steering Committee, responsible for setting policy and providing oversight of the Bessie Awards throughout the year, is comprised of Cora Cahan, Beverly D’Anne, Lane Harwell, Jeanne Linnes, Stanford Makishi, Nicky Paraiso, Carla Peterson, Tamia B. Santana, Laurie Uprichard, and Martin Wechsler.
The 2015−16 Bessie Awards Selection Committee consists of Diana Byer, Kim Chan, Leah Cox, Nancy Dalva, Maura Donohue, Simon Dove, Angel Feliciano, Boo Froebel, Angela Fatou Gittens, Caleb Hammons, Zhenesse Heinemann, Jerron Herman, Iréne Hultman, Robert LaFosse, Melissa Levin, Matthew Lyons, Harold Norris, Craig Peterson, Mathew Pokoik, Rajika Puri, Susan Reiter, Walter Rutledge, Sue Samuels, Philip Sandstrom, Risa Shoup, Sally Sommer, Risa Steinberg, Carrie Stern, Kay Takeda, Catherine Tharin, David Thomson, Muna Tseng, Kay Turner, Tony Waag, Eleanor K. Wallace, Edisa Weeks, Ryan Wenzel, Adrienne Westwood, William Whitener, and Elizabeth Zimmer.
The following are the 2016 Bessie Nominations:
Outstanding Production:
luciana achugar
An Epilogue for OTRO TEATRO: True Love
Gibney Dance: Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center
Souleymane Badolo
Yimbégré: Replanting roots in the name of freedom
BAM Fishman Space
Camille A. Brown
Black Girl: Linguistic Play
The Joyce Theater
Jack Ferver and Marc Swanson
Chambre
The New Museum co-presented by FIAF
Pat Graney
Girl Gods
Alexander Kasser Theater at Montclair State University
Maria Hassabi
PLASTIC
MoMA
Heather Kravas
dead, disappears
American Realness at Abrons Arts Center
Ralph Lemon
Scaffold Room
The Kitchen
Dada Masilo
Swan Lake
The Joyce Theater
Justin Peck
Heatscape
Miami City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Liz Santoro & Pierre Godard
For Claude Shannon
The Kitchen
Safi A. Thomas with H+ | The Hip-Hop Dance Conservatory
Sleeping Beauty
Flamboyán Theater
Outstanding Performer:
Ephrat Asherie
Sustained Achievement with Dorrance Dance, Doug Elkins, Bill Irwin, Gus Solomon jr., Rennie Harris, Cori Olinghouse, and many others
Nicolas Bruder
In Custodians of Beauty by Pavel Zuštiak
New York Live Arts
Omar Edwards
In FLY
New Victory Theater
Paul Hamilton
For his body of work including Ralph Lemon’s Scaffold Room and the work of Jane Comfort, Keeley Garfield, and others
Parisa Khobdeh
For her body of work with Paul Taylor Dance Company
Kazunori Kumagai
For his body of work including Live at the Blue Note Late Night Groove Series
Jennifer Lafferty
In Catacomb by Beth Gill
The Chocolate Factory
Molly Lieber
For her body of work with several artists including luciana achugar, Maria Hassabi, and Donna Uchizono
Aaron Mattocks
In Big Dance: Short Form by Big Dance Theater
The Kitchen
Gillian Murphy
Sustained Achievement with American Ballet Theatre
Aakash Odedra
In Rising
Skirball Center for the Performing Arts
Jamar Roberts
Sustained Achievement with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
Outstanding Music Composition/Sound Design:
Admanda Kobilka
For Clap Hands by Jen Rosenblit
Invisible Dog Art Center / New York Live Arts
Jeremy Toussaint-Baptiste
For #negrophobia by Jaamil Olawale Kosoko | anonymous bodies
Gibney Dance: Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center
Dan Trueman, Sō Percussion, and Mobius Percussion
For There Might Be Others by Rebecca Lazier
New York Live Arts
Ustatshakirt Plus
For Dream'd in a Dream by Seán Curran
BAM Harvey Theater
Outstanding Visual Design:
Holly Batt
For the visual and set design of Girl Gods by Pat Graney
Alexander Kasser Theater at Montclair State University
Design Team: F. Randy deCelle, Ralph Lemon, Roderick Murray, Naoko Nagata, R. Eric Stone, Mike Taylor, andPhilip White
For the visual design of Scaffold Room by Ralph Lemon
The Kitchen
DD Dorvillier and Thomas Dunn
For the lighting and visual design of Extra Shapes by DD Dorvillier
The Kitchen
Eamonn Farrell
For the new media scenography of Forgiveness by Emily Berry | B3W Performance Group
BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center
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