D'Amboise and Butz Win 2005 TDF / Astaire Awards

The awardees of the 2005 TDF/ASTAIRE AWARDS, which are presented annually for the "Best Dance on Broadway," were named by the TDF/Astaire Awards committee and announced by the awards' administrator, Theatre Development Fund. This year's awardees are: Charlotte D'Amboise, who will be receiving a Special Award for her "invaluable contribution to Broadway dance during the 2004-05 season." (She is currently starring in Chicago and had previously starred in Sweet Charity this spring): and Norbert Leo Butz as "Best Male Dancer" for his performance in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. This is Ms. D'amboise's second TDF/Astaire Award. She won the "Best Female Dancer" award in 1995 for her performance in Damn Yankees. This year, the committee did not name awardees in the categories of "Best Choreographer" or "Best Female Dancer."

THE TDF/ASTAIRE AWARDS are authorized under a special agreement between MRS. FRED ASTAIRE and Theatre Development Fund. When notified of this year's awardees, Mrs. Astaire said, "I'm sure that Fred would be honored to know that his artistic achievement, on stage and screen, continues to serve as a standard for excellence in Broadway dance community. I thank Theatre Development Fund for helping to honor Broadway dance through their administration of the awards."

The awards will be presented on June 14 at a private reception hosted by TDF. The awardees for the 2005 TDF/ASTAIRE AWARDS were chosen from this season's Broadway productions of: All Shook Up, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Dracula, Forever Tango, Good Vibrations, La Cage aux Folles, Little Women, Monty Python's Spamalot, Pacific Overtures, Sweet Charity, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and The Frogs.

The 2005 TDF/ASTAIRE AWARDS COMMITTEE includes Douglas Watt, New York Daily News (emeritus) chairman; Clive Barnes, New York Post; Howard Kissel, New York Daily News; Michael Kuchwara, Associated Press; Donald McDonagh, Ballet Review; Richard Philp, Dance Magazine; Charles L. Reinhart, director of the American Dance Festival; and Linda Winer, Newsday.

THE ASTAIRE AWARDS, established in 1982 by the Anglo-American Contemporary Dance Foundation and administered by Theatre Development Fund since 1991, recognize outstanding achievement in dance on Broadway each season on the part of a dancer or dancers and choreographer. The awards were established with the cooperation of Fred Astaire, to honor him and his sister, Adele, who starred with her brother in ten Broadway musicals between 1917 and 1931. The musicals were: Over the Top (1917), The Passing Show of 1918, Apple Blossoms (1919), Love Letter (1921), For Goodness Sake (1922), The Bunch & Judy (1922), Lady Be Good (1924), Funny Face (1927), Smiles (1930) and The Band Wagon (1931). Before going to Hollywood, Fred Astaire starred on Broadway (without sister Adele) in one more show, The Gay Divorcee (1932).

Previous winners of TDF/ASTAIRE AWARD for dance performance are: Debbie Allen (Sweet Charity), Clyde Alves (The Music Man), Michael Arnold (42nd Street) Hinton Battle (The Tap Dance Kid), Justin Bohan (Oklahoma!), Gregg Burge (2x winner - Song and Dance and Oh, Kay!), Charles 'Honi' Coles (My One and Only), Adam Cooper (Swan Lake), Don Correia (Little Me), Charlotte D'Amboise (Damn Yankees), Pierre Dulaine (Grand Hotel), Sutton Foster (Thoroughly Modern Millie), Savion Glover (Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk), Gregory Hines (Jelly's Last Jam), The Kit Kat Boys & Kit Kat Girls of Cabaret, Margaret Illmann (The Red Shoes), Hugh Jackman (The Boy From Oz), Robert Lambert (Gypsy), Kate Levering (42nd Street) Robert Lindsay (Me and My Girl), Natalia Makarova (On Your Toes), Yvonne Marceau (Grand Hotel), Stanley Wayne Mathis (Oh, Kay!), Donna McKechnie (State Fair), Ann Miller (Sugar Babies), Donna Murphy (Wonderful Town), Bebe Neuwirth (Chicago), Elizabeth Parkinson (Movin' Out) Kevin Ramsey (Oh, Kay!), Herbert Rawlings (Dreamgirls), Ann Reinking (Chicago), Chita Rivera (2x winner - Kiss of the Spider Woman and Lifetime Achievement Award), Donald Saddler (Lifetime Achievement Award), John Selya (Movin' Out) Scott Wise (Damn Yankees) and Deborah Yates (Contact).

Previous winners of TDF/ASTAIRE AWARD for choreography are: George Balanchine (On Your Toes), Michael Bennett (A Chorus Line), Patricia Birch (Parade), Matthew Bourne (special award for Swan Lake), Christopher Chadman (Guys and Dolls), Wayne Cilento (The Who's Tommy), Graciela Daniele (Ragtime), Danny Daniels (The Tap Dance Kid), Garth Fagan (The Lion King), Bob Fosse (combined award for Sweet Charity & Big Deal), Savion Glover (Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk), Hanya Holm (Special Award for Contribution to Modern Dance and the Broadway Stage), Lar Lubovich (The Red Shoes), Kathleen Marshall (Wonderful Town), Peter Martins (Song and Dance), Ann Reinking (Chicago), Jerome Robbins (special Lifetime Achievement Award), Michael Smuin (Anything Goes), Susan Stroman (4x winner - Show Boat; a combined award for both Contact and The Music Man; The Producers and Oklahoma!), Twyla Tharp (Movin' Out) and Tommy Tune (2x winner - Grand Hotel and The Will Rogers Follies).

Theatre Development Fund (TDF), a not-for-profit organization, was created in 1968 with the conviction that the live theatrical arts afford a unique expression of the human condition that must be sustained and nurtured. TDF's two-fold mission is to identify and provide support, including financial assistance, to theatrical works of artistic merit and to encourage and enable diverse audiences to attend live theatre and dance in all their venues.

TDF has played a unique role in strengthening New York City's performing arts. It has filled over 60 million theatre seats; provided subsidy support to over 850 plays, including 28 Pulitzer prize honorees; and returned over 1.3 billion dollars in revenue to thousands of theatre, dance and music organizations. TDF's ticket programs, including the TKTS Theatre Centres in Times Square and South Street Seaport, and TDF's mailing and voucher programs touch the lives of millions of New Yorkers and tourists who might not otherwise be able to enjoy the unique experience of live performance.

TDF also presents highly regarded open captioned and sign language interpreted performances for people who are deaf and hard of hearing, sponsors comprehensive training courses for future producers, provides a 24-hour New York City arts hotline and maintains a 65,000 item Costume Collection. TDF's intensive arts education programs, Stage Doors, Residency Arts Project (RAP) and Open Doors and Play by Play, a student theatre newsletter written for and by New York City high school students, are helping to build tomorrow's audiences. More about TDF and its programs may be found on our website at www.tdf.org