THE 2022 BESSIE AWARDS
Company:
THE BESSIES
THE BESSIES ANNOUNCE NOMINEES FOR THE 2022 BESSIE AWARDS
NAI-NI CHEN TO BE HONORED WITH 2022 LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
CHRISTINE JOWERS TO RECEIVE SERVICE TO THE FIELD OF DANCE AWARD
New York, NY (September 20, 2022) – The NY 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 2022 Bessie Awards at a virtual press conference hosted by Gibney. The Bessies also announced that renowned choreographer and dancer Nai-Ni Chen will be posthumously honored with the 2022 award for Lifetime Achievement in Dance. Christine Jowers, founding editor of the online publication The Dance Enthusiast, will receive the 2022 Service to the Field of Dance Award. (The list of nominations follows below.)
The organization will host a Bessie Awards Reception on Friday, December 16, 2022. Produced by H+ | TOTEM Productions, this fundraising reception will be held at Chelsea Factory, 547 West 26th Street, in Manhattan, and will also be streamed live. Tickets for the in-person event will start at $38 to commemorate the 38th year, available at limited capacity. Tickets for the livestream will be available by donation. Tickets will be available beginning November 1.
Nominations are made by the Bessie Awards Selection Committee, an independent committee of approximately 20 dance industry professionals. Works presented between June 1, 2021 and May 31, 2022 were eligible for consideration. Award categories include Outstanding Choreographer/ Creator, Outstanding Revival, Outstanding Performer, Outstanding Sound Design or Music Composition, and Outstanding Visual Design.
Bessies Executive Director Heather Robles said: “Artists are vital to the health of our society. We honor their process, labor, creative dedication, and service with this year’s nominations.”
About the Honorees
Nai-Ni Chen (1958–2021) was a unique artist whose work crossed many cultural boundaries. Each of her dances reflected her personal vision as an immigrant and as an American female artist with deep roots in Asian culture. From this perspective, she created dances that reflected current issues with global influences. Many of her works were developed in collaboration with renowned artists in different disciplines and cultures. Musical collaborators included the Ahn Trio, Glen Velez, Joan La Barbara, Kenji Bunch, Huang Ruo, Jason Kao Hwang, Tao Chen, Tan Dun, Gerald Chenoweth, the New Asia Chamber Music Society, and the Chinese Music Ensemble of New York. Award-winning designers and visual artists with whom she worked include Myung Hee Cho, Jay Moorthy, AC Hickox, costume designer Karen Young, Angel Tsai, and, most recently, Javier Valencia from SoHarlem. With the help of her manager Joanne Rile, Chen’s work has been presented in 42 states and 10 countries to millions of people worldwide.
Christine Jowers is the founding editor of the nonprofit, independent arts journalism site The Dance Enthusiast. For 15 years, she has covered the NYC dance scene as a videographer, writer, and speaker. She has discovered and mentored new dance writers, provided a place for experienced journalists to share their work, and created space for artists to write firsthand of their efforts. Believing that everyone, not only critics and academics, should be part of the documented dance conversation, Jowers created a venue where audiences could contribute their thoughts on performance. Her work promoting dance literacy has been funded by Dance USA, through the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Mertz Gilmore Foundation, and the Lower Manhattan Community Council, under the auspices of the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs and the New York State Council on the Arts. Jowers credits her passion for arts and community to her Caribbean ancestry and upbringing.
The 2022 Bessie Awards Nominations
Outstanding Choreographer/Creator:
Kyle Abraham
An Untitled Love
Brooklyn Academy of Music
Sidra Bell
SUSPENDED ANIMATION
New York City Ballet Fall Fashion Gala at David H. Koch Theater
Camille A. Brown
Fire Shut Up in My Bones
The Metropolitan Opera
Leslie Cuyjet
Blur
Open Call at The Shed
Indigenous Enterprise
Indigenous Liberation
The Joyce Theater
Bill T. Jones, Janet Wong, and Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company
Deep Blue Sea
Park Avenue Armory
Rashaad Newsome
Assembly
Park Avenue Armory
Okwui Okpokwasili and Peter Born
On the way, undone
Crossing the Line Festival 2021 at Weeksville Heritage Center
Eiko Otake
The Duet Project: Distance is Malleable
NYU Skirball
Anna Sperber
Bow Echo
presented by XØ Projects Inc and The Old American Can Factory
Raúl Tamez
On Limón Dance Company
Migrant Mother
The Joyce Theater
Sasha Waltz
In C
Brooklyn Academy of Music
Outstanding Performer:
Soledad Barrio
Soledad Barrio & Noche Flamenca
By Soledad Barrio
The Joyce Theater
Krudxs Cubensi
Black Healing Portal II: Mas alla del tiempo/Beyond time
Park Avenue Armory
Kayla Farrish
December 8th
By Kayla Farrish in collaboration with Belinda McGuire
The Eva Yaa Asantewaa Solo for Solo Showing
Gibney
Carla Forte, Ildiko Toth, Joanna Lesnierowska, Ermira Goro, Rosalynde LeBlanc, and Colleen Thomas
Light and Desire
By Colleen Thomas
New York Live Arts
Antonio Granjero
Soledad Barrio & Noche Flamenca
By Soledad Barrio
The Joyce Theater
Lloyd Knight
With Martha Graham Dance Company
Treading
By Elisa Monte
The Joyce Theater
zavé martohardjono
TERRITORY: The Island Remembers
By zavé martohardjono in collaboration with x, Ube Halaya, Raha Behnam, Marielys Burgos Meléndez, Julia Santoli, Katherine De La Cruz, Jordan Reed, Theresee Tull, Proteo Media + Performance
Gibney
Nikolai McKenzie Ben Rema
A Jamaican Battyboy in America
By Arthur Avilés
Hemispheric Institute at NYU and BAAD!
Doron Perk
Grandfather Visit
By Doron Perk
Presented through LABA: Laboratory for Jewish Culture at the 14th Street Y
Antonio Ramos
Puro Teatro
By luciana achugar
The Chocolate Factory Theater
Yesenia Selier
Cosmic Exu
Park Avenue Armory
Shannon Tyo
As “Afong Moy”
The Chinese Lady
By Lloyd Suh
Directed by Ralph B. Peña
The Barrington Stage Company and Ma-Yi Theater Company Production
The Public Theater
Outstanding Revival:
A Jamaican Battyboy in America
Performed by Nikolai McKenzie Ben Rema
Original production in 1996 by Arthur Avilés, original title “A Puerto Rican Faggot from America”
Hemispheric Institute at NYU & BAAD!
L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato
Performed by Mark Morris Dance Group
Original production in 1988 by Mark Morris
Brooklyn Academy of Music
Set and Reset/Reset
Performed by Candoco Dance Company
Original production in 1983 by Trisha Brown
Brooklyn Academy of Music
Treading
Performed by Martha Graham Dance Company
Original production in 1982 by Elisa Monté
The Joyce Theater
Outstanding Sound Design or Musical Composition:
Marc Álvarez (arrangement)
Carmen
By Johan Inger
Performed by Compañia Nacional de Danza
The Joyce Theater
Donald Eaton, Jerome Hunter, Abdel R. Salaam, Kweku Sumbry, and K. Osei Williams
TERRESTRIAL WOMBS
By Abdel R. Salaam
Presented at DanceAfrica
Brooklyn Academy of Music
Efraín Rozas
Puro Teatro
By luciana achugar
The Chocolate Factory Theater
Kwami Winfield
STELLAR
Virtual Performance
By Kyle Marshall
Baryshnikov Arts Center
Outstanding Visual Design:
Elizabeth Diller – DS+R, Peter Nigrini, and Robert Wierzel
Visual Environment, Video Projection, and Lighting Design
Deep Blue Sea
By Bill T. Jones, Janet Wong, and Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company
Park Avenue Armory
Indigenous Enterprise
Projection, Costume Design, and Lighting Design
Indigenous Liberation
By Indigenous Enterprise
The Joyce Theater
Andrew Jordan and Joe Levasseur
Costume Design and Lighting Design
Narcissus
By Christopher Williams
New York Live Arts
New Affiliates – Ivi Diamantopoulou, Jaffer Kolb and Rashaad Newsome Studio with Truman T. Brown Jr. and Howie B., Kimberly Jones, Randy Rosenthal
Set Design and Costume Design
Assembly
By Rashaad Newsome
Park Avenue Armory
Outstanding Breakout Choreographer:
Flex Kingdom: Jabari Gooding, Obinnaya Williams, and Diamond DuBose
Sun Kim
Princess Lockerooo
Angie Pittman
ABOUT THE BESSIES
The NY Dance and Performance Awards have saluted outstanding and groundbreaking creative work in the dance field in New York City for 38 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 outstanding work in choreography, performance, music composition, and visual design. 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 as members 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 2021–2022 Bessie Awards Selection Committee: Ronald K. Alexander, Maria Baranova, Maria Bauman, Charles Vincent Burwell, Yoshiko Chuma, Sangeeta Ghosh Yesley, Valerie Green, Anabella Lenzu, Gian Marco Riccardo Lo Forte, Tiffany Rea-Fisher, Elgie Gaynell Sherrod, Ivan Talijančić, and Philip Treviño.
The Bessies Steering Committee: Yvonne H. Chow, Stanford Makishi, maura nguyen donohue, Nicky Paraiso, Carla Peterson, Craig Peterson, Tiffany Rea-Fisher, george emilio sanchez, Paz Tanjuaquio (chair), Laurie Uprichard, and Charmaine Warren.
