The Bessies Announce Nominees For 2023 Bessie Awards

The New York Dance and Performance Awards, The Bessies, New York City's premier dance awards honoring outstanding creative work in the field, today announced the nominees for the 2023 Bessie Awards. This year's Bessie Awards ceremony will be held on Friday, August 4, at 7:30pm, at Lincoln Center's Damrosch Park as part of Lincoln Center's Summer for the City. The event is free and open to the public.

Nominations are made by the Bessie Awards Selection Committee, an independent committee of dance industry professionals. With the change in the ceremony's location this year, a new nominating time frame was established. Performances presented between June 1, 2022, and March 31, 2023, were eligible for consideration. Award categories include Outstanding Choreographer/Creator, Outstanding Performer, Outstanding Revival, Outstanding Sound Design or Music Composition, Outstanding Visual Design, and Outstanding Breakout Choreographer. Additional awards are given for Lifetime Achievement, Service to the Field of Dance, and a special Juried Award in partnership with NYS DanceForce.

“Under the auspices of Lincoln Center's Summer for the City, The Bessies are thrilled to celebrate this year's artists with the dance community at our first-ever free ceremony in decades,” said Bessies Executive Director Heather Robles.

The 2023 Bessie Awards Nominations

 

Outstanding Choreographer/Creator:

Vanessa Anspaugh

mourning after mornings

New York Live Arts

LaTasha Barnes

LaTasha Barnes presents The Jazz Continuum

The Joyce Theater

Sidra Bell

REP: Introspection

Gibney

Jessica Chen

NüWa (女媧)

Arts on Site

Dormeshia

Dormeshia Tap Collective: Rhythm Is Life

The Joyce Theater

Rennie Harris

Lifted

The Joyce Theater

Deborah Hay

Horse, The Solos

The Joyce Theater

Benjamin Akio Kimitch

Tiger Hands

The Shed

Jordan Demetrius Lloyd

Blackbare in the Basement

Danspace Project

Shamel Pitts

Black Hole: Trilogy and Triathlon

New York Live Arts

Lia Rodrigues

Encantado

Brooklyn Academy of Music

Omari Wiles

New York Is Burning

Guggenheim Museum Works & Process

Outstanding Performer:

Billy Barry

Hora

By Ohad Naharin

The Joyce Theater

j. bouey

A Message from Mx. Black Copper

By j. bouey

Judson Memorial Church

Amanda Castro

Bomba II

By Amanda Castro, performed for Ayodele Casel's Chasing Magic

The Joyce Theater

Joyce Edwards

Grace, The Equality of Night and Day, and Open Door

By Ronald K. Brown

The Joyce Theater

Timothy Edwards

Mr. TOL E. RAncE

By Camille A. Brown

The Joyce Theater

Rachel Harris

Mr. Withers

By David Parsons

The Joyce Theater

Niall Jones

C O M P R E S S I O N

By Niall Jones

Performance Space New York

Albert Silindokuhle Ibokwe Khoza

And so you see… our honourable blue sky and ever

enduring sun… can only be consumed slice by slice…

By Robyn Orlin

New York Live Arts and FIAF's Crossing the Line Festival

Maleek Washington

Mr. TOL E. RAncE

By Camille A. Brown

The Joyce Theater

Ensemble: Anand Bolder, Louise Dahl, Freddy Houndekindo, Eliott Marmouset, Adam Schütt, Johanna Tengan, Vincent Van Der Plas

Horse, The Solos

By Deborah Hay

Cullberg Ballet

The Joyce Theater

Ensemble: Bree Breeden, Wendell Gray II, José Lapaz Rodriguez, Jordan Demetrius Lloyd, Mia Martelli, Mykel Marai Nairne, Owen Prum, Kennedy Thomas

Blackbare in the Basement

By Jordan Demetrius Lloyd

Dancespace Project

Ensemble: Marielys Burgos-Meléndez, Rafael V. Cañals Pérez, Christopher “Unpezverde” Núñez

The Circle or Prophetic Dream

By Christopher “Unpezverde” Núñez

Danspace Project

Outstanding Revival:

Pina Bausch & Tanztheater Wuppertal

Água (1995/2023)

Brooklyn Academy of Music

Camille A. Brown & Dancers

Mr. TOL E. RAncE (2012/2022)

The Joyce Theater

Garth Fagan & Garth Fagan Dance

Prelude (1981/2022)

The Joyce Theater

Twyla Tharp

In the Upper Room (1986/2022)

New York City Center

Outstanding Sound Design or Musical Composition:

Roman Bestion, Fouad Boussouf, and Marion Castor

Näss

By Fouad Boussouf

The Joyce Theater

Graham Reynolds

Horse, The Solos

By Deborah Hay

Cullberg Ballet

The Joyce Theater

Evil Tracy The International Showoff and DJ Razor Ramon

Rome & Jewels

By Rennie Harris

The Joyce Theater

Charles Turner

LaTasha Barnes presents The Jazz Continuum

By LaTasha Barnes

The Joyce Theater

Outstanding Visual Design:

Isabela Dos Santos (Animation)

Mr. TOL E. RAncE

By Camille A. Brown

The Joyce Theater

Sarai Frazier (Lighting)

all things under dog, where two things are always true

By Monica Mirabile

Performance Space New York

Zane Pihlström (Costume and Stage Design)

Company XIV: Seven Deadly Sins

By Company XIV

Theatre XIV

Tina Tzoka and Loukas Bakas (Set Design), Stephanos Droussiotis (Lighting Design), Nektarios Dionysatos (Props) Dimitris Korres (Mechanical Inventions)

Transverse Orientation

By Dimitris Papaioannou 

Brooklyn Academy of Music

Outstanding Breakout Choreographer:

Bryan and Shaina Baira of BAIRA

Symara Johnson

Soles of Duende: Amanda Castro, Brinda Guha, Arielle Rosales

marion spencer

The New York Dance and Performance Awards have saluted outstanding and groundbreaking creative work in the dance field in New York City for 39 years. Known as “The Bessies” in honor of revered dance teacher Bessie Schönberg, the awards were established in 1984 by David R. White at Dance Theater Workshop. They recognize choreography, performance, music composition,  visual design, legacy, and service to the field of dance by independent dance artists and organizations. Nominees are chosen by a selection committee composed of artists, presenters, producers, and writers. All those working in the dance field are invited to join the Bessies Membership and participate in annual discussions on the direction of the awards and nominate members to serve on the selection committee. For more information about The Bessies, visit www.bessies.org.

           

The 2022–2023 Bessie Awards Selection Committee: Tyler Ashley, Elizabeth Burke, Tymberly Canale, Yoshiko Chuma, Donna Costello, Porshia A. Derival, Tiffany Geigel, Valerie Green, Satsu Holmes, William Isaac, Anabella Lenzu, Gian Marco Riccardo Lo Forte, Shalewa Mackall, Yoko Murakami, Ivan Talijančić, and Kate Thomas.

The Bessies Steering Committee: Paz Tanjuaquio (chair), Yvonne H. Chow, Stanford Makishi, maura nguyễn donohue, Nicky Paraiso, Craig Peterson, Tiffany Rea-Fisher, george emilio sanchez, and Charmaine Warren.

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