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©2007 Isadora Duncan Dance Awards |
2005 Awards 2nd Annual In 2004 The Isadora Duncan Dance Awards joined forces with Bay Area Celebrates National Dance Week, VoiceofDance.com, and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts to inaugurate the Bay Area Dance Awards. The Isadora Duncan Dance Awards Committee announced the 2005 “Izzie” awards winners, for the 2003-2004 performance season, and the continuation of a vibrant collaboration among Bay Area dance organizations. Bay Area Dance Awards was the cornerstone event of Bay Area Celebrates National Dance Week; a ten-day festival of free dance classes, open rehearsals, performances, and festivals, celebrating all kinds of dance throughout the Bay Area. In 2004 the first Bay Area Dance Awards was a resounding success, drawing a large and lively cross-section of participants from our rich Bay Area dance scene. Nearly 500 audience members representing everything from ballet to flamenco to butoh attended. This year’s awards night reprised last year’s winning collaboration, presenting Bay Area Celebrates National Dance Week’s annual awards, VoiceofDance.com’s “Dance Critic of Merit” award, and the Izzies, in a shared production. This free event was held Tuesday, April 26, 2005 at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Forum, with a reception at 6 p.m. followed by the ceremony at 7 p.m. Free-spirited and inclusive, the evening is quickly becoming a highlight of the Bay Area dance calendar. This year The Bay Area Dance Awards revived a popular element by including dance performances during the ceremony. Performances included: Flamenco dancer Carola Zertuche, a Contemporary Ballet duet with Amy Seiwart and Ethan White, the electrifying Hip-Hop crew Corey Action and New Style Motherlode, and Musician Albert Matthias. Another highlight this year was VoiceofDance.com’s Critic of Merit Award. Accepting this award in person, in a rare Bay Area appearance, was esteemed dance critic for The New York Times, Anna Kisselgoff. 2005 marks the 19th year that the Izzies Committee has recognized the excellence and diversity of Bay Area dance. Awards were bestowed in nine categories to Bay Area dancers, choreographers, their collaborators, and composers, as well as to others who contribute to the advancement of the dance community. In recent years the Izzies Committee has seen a surge in new membership, which has led to a re-examination of the awards guidelines; to better reflect the strength and stature of the Bay Area dance scene. The choreography award guidelines in particular have been revised to encourage — but not require — recognizing more than one dance work. Thus this year’s choreography category presented a larger field of nominees than usual — and three winners — a testament to the innovative and highly crafted work of today’s Bay Area choreographers. The Isadora Duncan Dance Awards Committee seeks to honor local dance artists and promote their visibility, primarily by acknowledging outstanding achievements within a 12-month cycle of performances, running September 1 through August 31. The “Izzie” awards, formed as part of Dance Bay Area in 1984, with awards first given in 1985, are designed to celebrate the unique richness, diversity, and excellence of Bay Area dance. In 1994, the Isadora Duncan Dance Awards Committee regrouped and teamed up with the San Francisco Performing Arts Library and Museum. The committee members are choreographers, dancers, teachers, critics, writers, and arts administrators who serve one- or three-year terms. Member profiles and lists of previous nominees and winners are available on this site. For more information about the associate organizations please visit www.voiceofdance.com 2005 WINNERS (for 2003-2004 season) Here is an article about the ceremony, by Michael Wade Simpson, |