Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation Awards $10,000 Denham Fellowship to Colette Robert

Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation, the not-for-profit foundation of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, has selected Colette Robert as this season's SDCF Denham Fellow for her upcoming production of The Harriet Holland Social Club Presents the 84th Annual Star-Burst Cotillion in the Grand Ballroom of the Renaissance Hotel, which she also authored. The Cotillion is being co-produced by New Georges and The Movement Theatre Company in April and May 2023. The Denham Fellowship comes with a $10,000 stipend. Robert was unanimously selected for this honor by a panel comprised of Emily Mann (Committee Chair), Liz Diamond, Marya Sea Kaminski, Patricia McGregor, Jesca Prudencio, Hana Sharif, and Dawn Monique Williams.

"I am beyond thrilled to receive this year's Denham Fellowship for the upcoming world premiere of The Harriet Holland Social Club Presents the 84th Annual Star-Burst Cotillion in the Grand Ballroom of the Renaissance Hotel. It is a special treat to receive this honor as a writer/director, and for a play that I've been dreaming about since 2014! After almost three years of production delays because of Covid, I look forward to starting rehearsals this spring!" says Robert. '

To learn more visit https://sdcfoundation.org/opportunities/fellowships/the-denham-fellowship/

About The Cotillion

The Harriet Holland Social Club Presents the 84th Annual Star-Burst Cotillion in the Grand Ballroom of the Renaissance Hotel, a play with music written and directed by Colette Robert, music and lyrics by Dionne McClain-Freeney, choreography by nicHi douglas, is experienced as a Black debutante ball in a large American city in real time. Guided by The Emcee and The Club's esteemed Madam President, as well as three singers and a trove of ingeniously stylish songs, we follow six well-to-do Black girls on the night of their Coming Out: from backstage preparations through the crowning of a bright-and-shiny new Miss Star-Burst. The Cotillion explores respectability politics in the Black community as well as the history and language of "presenting" Black women.

About Colette Robert

Colette Robert is a director and playwright from Los Angeles, based in New York. Her directing credits include Weathering (Penumbra Theatre), Egress (Salt Lake Acting Company), Solo Plays (Williamstown Theatre Festival), STEW (Page 73, Pulitzer Finalist), and Behind the Sheet (Ensemble Studio Theatre, NYT Critics Pick). Upcoming: The Wanderers (City Theatre Company) and Crumbs from the Table of Joy (Keen Company). Colette's first play, The Harriet Holland Social Club presents the 84th Annual Star-Burst Cotillion in the Grand Ballroom of the Renaissance Hotel, will premiere in Spring 2023, co-produced by New Georges and The Movement Theatre Company. She is a member of Ensemble Studio Theatre, a New Georges affiliated artist, and an adjunct lecturer at NYU (Dramatic Writing). M.A., RADA and King's College, London. B.A., Yale University.

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About the Denham Fellowship

Established by Mary Orr Denham in 2006 with a bequest to the SDC Foundation in honor of her late husband, Reginald H. F. Denham, the Denham Fellowship is an annual award to early and mid-career female-identifying directors to further develop their directing skills. The Denham Fellowship recipient is selected by the Denham Committee, which is made up of theatre professionals. Past recipients include Arpita Mukherjee, Michelle Bossy, May Adrales, Tea Alagic, Rachel Alderman, Kathleen Amshoff, Jessi Hill, Joanie Schultz, Pirronne Yousefzadeh, Bridget Leak, Hannah Ryan, Diane Rodriguez, and Shirley Jo Finney.

About SDCF

Founded in 1965, Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation (SDCF) celebrates, develops, and supports professional stage directors and choreographers throughout every phase of their careers. SDCF works to build a theatrical community that reflects the cultural, racial, and gender diversity of our nation by creating opportunities for artists of all backgrounds to bring their full, authentic selves to their work as creative leaders in the theatre. SDCF's goals are to provide opportunities to practice the crafts of directing and choreography; to gather and disseminate craft and career information; to promote the profession to emerging talent; to provide opportunities for exchange of knowledge among directors and choreographers; to increase the awareness of the value of directors' and choreographers' work; and to convene around issues affecting theatre artists. www.sdcfoundation.org.