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
Ãgua (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 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
ABOUT THE BESSIES
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 TalijanÄić, and Kate Thomas.
The Bessies Steering Committee: Paz Tanjuaquio (chair), Yvonne H. Chow, Stanford Makishi, maura nguyá»…n donohue, Nicky Paraiso, Craig Peterson, Tiffany Rea-Fisher, george emilio sanchez, and Charmaine Warren.