PRESS RELEASE
March 19, 2019
Contact Person: Aileen Kim
Email address: izzienotifications@gmail.com
The Isadora Duncan Dance Awards
Website: www.izzies-sf.org
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ISADORA DUNCAN DANCE AWARDS COMMITTEE ANNOUNCES AWARDEES FOR 2017-2018 PERFORMANCE SEASON
San Francisco, California, March 2019 – The Isadora Duncan Dance Awards Committee announces the “Izzies” awardees and honorees for the 2017-2018 performance season. This year the Isadora Duncan Dance Awards Committee celebrateD\d 33 years of honoring local dance artists by acknowledging their outstanding achievements in dance.
The awardees were announced at a ceremony held on Monday, March 25, 2019, at SOMArts Cultural Center in San Francisco. The following is a list of awardees and honorees by awards category. Awardees appear in BOLD.
Outstanding Achievement in Choreography
● Christine Chung (choreographic direction), Daniel Cancel, Jaavon Martin, Isa Musni, Alex Nana-Sinkam, Andy Nguyen, Julie Ni, Tayna Gonzalez Rivera, Nina Wu, and Jamie Yuen-Shore, I, Too, Sing America, Bay Area Theater Company, Buriel Clay Theatre, San Francisco
● David Dawson, Anima Animus, San Francisco Ballet, War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco
● Keith Hennessy, Sink, Circo Zero, Joe Goode Annex, San Francisco
● Jyothi Lakkaraju, Ananda Narthana Ganapathim, Natyalaya School of Kuchipudi, SF Ethnic Dance Festival, War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco
● Trey McIntyre, Your Flesh Shall Be A Great Poem, San Francisco Ballet, War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco
● Christopher Wheeldon, Bound To, San Francisco Ballet, War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco
Outstanding Achievement in Performance – Individual
● Crystaldawn Bell, XO: eXquisite Orientation, choreographed by Randee Paufve, Paufve Dance, Joe Goode Annex, San Francisco
● Giordan Cruz, existence, choreographed by Dazaun Soleyn, dazaun.dance, Dance Mission Theater, San Francisco
● Mathilde Froustey, The Sleeping Beauty, choreographed by Helgi Tomasson after Marius Petipa, San Francisco Ballet, War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco
● Hien Huynh, Within These Walls, choreographed by Lenora Lee and dancers, Lenora Lee Dance, Angel Island Immigration Station, San Francisco
● Frankie Lee Peterson III, .helmet of salvation, choreographed by Frankie Lee Peterson III, The Black Choreographers Dance Festival: Here and Now 2018, Laney College Theater, Oakland
Outstanding Achievement in Performance – Ensemble
● Isaiah Bindel and Erik Debono, Floating in Mid-Air, choreographed by Gregory Dawson, dawsondancesf, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater, San Francisco
● Melecio Estrella, Ben Juodvalkis, and Andrew Ward, Manimal Suite, choreographed by Fog Beast, Fog Beast, Joe Goode Annex, San Francisco
● Zoë Klein, Hien Huynh, Andrey Pfening, Jeremy Vik, and Xedex, Born, Never Asked, choreographed by Zoë Klein, Zoë Klein Productions, Dance Mission Theater, San Francisco
● Andy, Miriam, and Frida Wolodarski Lundberg, The Dad Joke at the End of the World (part of Dance Lovers 7), choreographed by Miriam Wolodarski, Sense Object, CounterPulse Theater, San Francisco
● Xochitl Sosa and Caroline Wright, Unravel, choreographed by Xochitl Sosa and Caroline Wright, San Francisco Aerial Arts Festival, Cowell Theater, Fort Mason, San Francisco
Outstanding Achievement in Performance – Company
● Alleluia Panis Dance Theater, Incarcerated 6x9, choreographed by Alleluia Panis, Bindlestiff Studio, San Francisco
● Margaret Jenkins Dance Company, Skies Calling Skies Falling, choreographic direction by Margaret Jenkins, Veterans Memorial Building, San Francisco
● OngDance Company, Salt Doll, choreographed by Kyoungil Ong, War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco
● San Francisco Ballet, Unbound: A Festival of New Works, War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco
● Sean Dorsey Dance, Boys in Trouble, choreographed by Sean Dorsey, Z Space, San Francisco
Outstanding Achievement in Music/Sound/Text
● Sean Dorsey (soundscore design/writing/narration), Jesse Olsen Bay (music/musician), Anomie Belle (music/musician), L.D. Brown (music/musician), Grace Coleman (sound recording/mixing), LD Dean (sound recording/mixing), ArVéjon Jones (additional text), Alex Kelly (music/musician), Ben Kessler (music/musician), and Nol Simonse (additional text), Boys in Trouble, choreographed by Sean Dorsey, Sean Dorsey Dance, Z Space, San Francisco
● Zakir Hussain and Sabir Khan (music and performance), Sutra, choreographed by Alonzo King, Alonzo King LINES Ballet, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater, San Francisco
● Othello Jefferson (music direction), I, Too, Sing, America, choreographed by Christine Chung, Daniel Cancel, Jaavon Martin, Isa Musni, Alex Nana-Sinkam, Andy Nguyen, Julie Ni, Tayna Gonzalez Rivera, Nina Wu, and Jamie Yuen-Shore, Bay Area Theater Company, Buriel Clay Theatre, San Francisco
● Erika Chong Shuch (direction), Michelle Carter (libretto), Janet Kutulas (music/lyrics), and Kitka Women's Vocal Ensemble, Iron Shoes, choreographed by Erika Chong Shuch, Kitka Women's Vocal Ensemble and Shotgun Players, Ashby Stage, Berkeley
Outstanding Achievement in Visual Design
● Ladislao "June" Arellano (costume design) and Wilfred Galila (media art design), Incarcerated 6x9, choreographed by Alleluia Panis, Alleluia Panis Dance Theater, Bindlestiff Studio, San Francisco
● Byb Chanel Bibene (set/costume) and Delayne Medoff (lighting), Nkisi Nkondi - Sacred Kongo Sculpture, choreographed by Byb Chanel Bibene, Kiandanda Dance Theater, ODC Theater, San Francisco
● Natalie Greene (direction and set design), Christine Crook (costume design), Allie Khori (prop design and production management), Ray Oppenheimer (lighting design), Darl Andrew Packard (video content design), Alice Ruiz (costume design), Soren Santos (mask design), and Wolfgang Wachalovsky (projections design), directed by Natalie Greene, In Event of Moon Disaster, Mugwumpin, Z Below, San Francisco
● Sheldon B. Smith (set/video design), Six Degrees of Freedom, created and directed by Sheldon B. Smith and Lisa Wymore, Smith-Wymore Disappearing Acts, ODC Theater, San Francisco
● Amara Tabor-Smith with Yvette Aldama (altar design), Yoshi Asai (set design), Alexa Burrell (video design), Regina Calloway (costume design), Ellen Sebastian Chang (video design), Tobe Correal (altar design), and Dana Kawano (set/costume design), House/Full of BlackWomen: episode 12: passing/through/the great middle, co-created by Amara Tabor-Smith and Ellen Sebastian Chang in collaboration with the performers, Deep Waters Dance Theater, EastSide Cultural Center, Oakland
Outstanding Achievement in Restaging / Revival / Reconstruction
● Raphaël Boumaila, restaging of Chaconne (1942), choreographed by José Limón, Oakland Ballet Company, Paramount Theatre, Oakland
● Jean-Pierre Frohlich, revival of Fancy Free (1944) and The Cage (1951), and Isabelle Guérin, revival of Other Dances (1976), choreographed by Jerome Robbins, San Francisco Ballet, War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco
● Celia Fushille and Amy London, revival of Fly Me to the Moon (2004), choreographed by Michael Smuin, Smuin Contemporary Ballet, Palace of Fine Arts Theatre, San Francisco
● Joanna Haigood, in collaboration with Jeff Raz and the performers, revival of The View from Here (2002), directed by Joanna Haigood, Zaccho Dance Theatre, Zaccho Studio, San Francisco
● Helgi Tomasson, revival of The Sleeping Beauty (1990), choreographed by Helgi Tomasson after Marius Petipa, San Francisco Ballet, War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco
Special Achievement Award for Outstanding Production
● Within These Walls, concept/production/direction: Lenora Lee, Lenora Lee Dance, Angel Island Immigration Station, San Francisco, for telling the story of the immigrants that passed through Angel Island and remembering the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act. Staged at the former immigration station on the island, the work reflects the strength and trauma of those historically detained at the station via site-specific dance, video projection, and original music.
Special Achievement Award
● San Francisco Ballet, for Unbound: A Festival of New Works, War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco, for an unprecedented festival of contemporary ballets by 12 globally-acclaimed choreographers. Along with films, behind-the-scenes interviews, rehearsal footage, and talks and lectures about the creative process, the festival brought contemporary ballet into the international spotlight by bringing dancers, critics, and dance aficionados together.
Sustained Achievement Award
● AXIS Dance Company, for 30 years of innovative artistry, sustained community engagement, and steadfast local and international advocacy for dancers of all ages and abilities. AXIS led the charge to create inclusive movement spaces, and continues to provide opportunities for community empowerment in the Bay Area and beyond.
● Carnaval San Francisco, for celebrating the diverse Latin American and Caribbean roots of the Mission District and the Bay Area for over 40 years. Carnaval San Francisco has been an opportunity for many cultures to come together in one spirit and share their creative expression.
● Jodi Lomask, who through her company, Capacitor, has for 20 years combined dance and circus arts with science to create outstanding artistic and educational moments. Over the years she has worked closely with scientists in the fields of geology, oceanography, computer science, neuroscience, and more to create authentic experiences that extend the art of dance to a larger community, and that make science understandable to the layperson.
The Isadora Duncan Dance Awards, known locally as the Izzies, are awarded annually to acknowledge exceptional creative achievements in the performance and presentation of dance. Awards are given in nine categories to honor the dancers, choreographers, designers, composers, dance companies, dance scholars and other individuals who have made important contributions to the San Francisco Bay Area’s thriving dance community.
During each 12-month performance cycle, running September 1-August 31, the volunteer Izzies Committee collectively views over 400 eligible performances. The final nominees and honorees are selected at an annual voting meeting held in September after the close of the viewing cycle. Member profiles and lists of previous nominees and award winners are available online at www.izzies-sf.org. The Izzies Committee is supported in part through grants, in-kind donations, and annual giving by individuals.
For additional information, contact: izzienotifications@gmail.com
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