The A.W.A.R.D. Show NYC Announces Winner

The Joyce Theater Foundation is pleased to announce that choreographer Helen Simoneau is the winner of The A.W.A.R.D Show! 2010: New York City. Simoneau, who competed in a four day event with eleven other participants, received a $10,000 cash award to use toward the creation of a new dance work. Two runners-up, Satoshi Haga and Yin Yue, were each awarded $1,000.

The A.W.A.R.D. Show! was presented to sold-out houses at Joyce SoHo from November 17-20. Each of the first three evening performances featured the work of four different choreographers followed by a discussion between the artists and the audience, moderated by Linda Szmyd Monich. Directly following the discussion was an audience vote to determine which choreographer would perform again on the fourth night of the series. At the final performance on November 20, a panel of arts professionals along with the audience chose the winner of the $10,000 award. The voting panelists included: Lane Harwell, Director of Dance NYC; Gideon Lester, Associate Director of the Collaboration Lab and Artist Residency Program at Columbia's School of the Arts; Linda Shelton, Executive Director of The Joyce Theater Foundation; and Kate Weare, choreographer and winner of The A.W.A.R.D. Show! 2007.

Helen Simoneau, Satoshi Haga, and Yin Yue will report back on their progress in creating new work with the prize money that they received. When performances of these works are scheduled, they will be advertised on The Joyce Theater website and on each company's website. The audiences will then have a chance to attend a performance of a work that they ultimately helped to actualize.

The twelve participants in New York City were:
§ Julie Bour-Compagnie Julie Bour
§ Eunkyungkim-gogovertigoat dance and/or performance
§ Yin Yue
§ Takehiro Ueyama-TAKE Dance
§ Helen Simoneau
§ Lauri Stallings-gloATLANTA
§ Aaron McGloin-Aaron McGloin Dance
§ Alejandro Chavez-Compañia Ciudad Interior
§ Michel Kouakou-Daara Dance
§ Christopher Williams
§ Satoshi Haga-binbinFactory
§ Roger Celedonio and Esther Mayda-Alma Boliviana

The A.W.A.R.D. Show! was founded in 2005 by choreographer Neta Pulvermacher/The Neta Dance Company, Scott Kasen and producer Marisa König Beatty in response to a need for a lab-like space in which working dance artists can engage in an open dialogue with the audience about the work presented. The A.W.A.R.D. Show! is now administered and produced by The Joyce Theater Foundation and was expanded from an annual series held in New York City at Joyce SoHo to a multi-city format in 2009. This year, The Joyce Theater Foundation has partnered with The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago, REDCAT (Los Angeles), Dance Affiliates (Philadelphia), ODC Theater (San Francisco) and On the Boards (Seattle).

The awards in New York City have been generously underwritten by Scott Kasan.

The awards in Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Seattle have been generously underwritten by The Boeing Company.

The A.W.A.R.D. Show! 2010: New York City Biographies

Helen Simoneau is a native of Québec. She currently lives in the United States and creates with a group of dancers based in both NYC and North Carolina. Simoneau has had the pleasure of creating and restaging her work for the Bessie Schönberg Residency at The Yard, the Swiss International Coaching Project (SiWiC) in Zurich, the North Carolina School of the Arts (NCSA), the Eisenhower Dance Ensemble, The University of Oklahoma, Wake Forest University, and Hollins University. Her choreography has been presented at Joyce SoHo, Dixon Place, DUMBO Dance Festival, Dance New Amsterdam, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival (Inside/Out), Bates Dance Festival, and Movement Research at Judson Church, as well as in Austria, Canada, France, Greece, Spain, Switzerland, and has toured throughout Germany. This past summer, she joined the faculty at the American Dance Festival and was an artist-in-residence at Bates Dance Festival. Simoneau earned a BFA from the NCSA and a MFA from Hollins University/ADF. www.helensimoneau.com

Satoshi Haga grew up in rural Japan, where he never thought he would become interested in dance. He studied mime and dance in New York. He has performed theater with The American Mime Theatre, New York Pantomime Theater, Jeanette Stoner and Dancers and many independent artists. His works have been presented by venues including Aaron Davis Hall, The Madarts, Joyce Soho, P.S.122, Movement Research, 92nd Street Y, Mulberry Street Theater, DanceNow, Downtown Dance Festival, Dance Conversation@Flea, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, the Japan Society in New York, Jacob's Pillow and The Yard in M.A. He started a quarterly experimental performance series with Rie Fukuzawa at the Giacobetti Paul Gallery at DUMBO in February, 2010 and he is currently collaborating with Jen Shyu, a vocalist and composer. He has also choreographed and directed an exhibition at the Tokyo Motor show. Mr. Haga has studiEd Balinese dance with Nyoman Cerita in Bali, is currently practicing Yang and Chen style Tai Chi and for the past 10 years has joyfully taken up the practice of juggling. He teaches movement linked to Qi energy and Tai Chi and conducts healing sessions. www.binbinfactory.org

Yin Yue was born in Shanghai, China. She studied Chinese classical dance and Chinese ethnic dance at Shanghai Dance School from 1995 to 2001 and contemporary modern dance at Shanghai Normal University from 2001 to 2005. Yin has appeared in festivals throughout China and was ranked in the 2005 top ten dancers in the National Contemporary Dance Competition held in Yunnan. In 2008, Yin Yue graduated from New York University's Tisch School of The Arts with an MFA in dance.

Yin Yue performed for Doug Elkins & Friends, Ivy Baldwin, Curt Haworth, Christopher Williams, Debroah Jowitt and many others. She currently dances for White Wave Young Soon Kim Dance Company, Urban Dance Collective and Stefanie Nelson Dance Group.

Since 2006, Yin Yue has presented works in dance venues such as Dancenow[NYC] Festival at DTW, Food For Thoughts at St. Marks Church, DUMBO DANCE Festival, Cool New York Festival, La MaMa Moves New York International and FAB Festival at DMAC-DUO Theater. www.yinyuedance.com

The A.W.A.R.D. Show! 2010-2011 Schedule of Events:

1) The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago
July 28-31, 2010 at 8 p.m.
1306 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL
The Dance Center: 312-369-8330 or colum.edu/dancecenter

2) Joyce SoHo
November 17-20, 2010 at 7 p.m.
155 Mercer Street, New York, NY
Tickets: $18
Joyce Charge: 212-242-0800 or joyce.org
Tickets available September 2010

3) ODC Theater
January 12-15, 2011 at 8 p.m.
3153 17th Street, San Francisco, CA
Tickets: $18 single tickets (advance sale) or $60 for all four shows (advance sale)
ODC Theater Box office: 415-863-9834 or odctheater.org

4) REDCAT (Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater)
January 13-16, 2011 at 8:30 p.m.
631 West 2nd Street, Los Angeles, CA
Tickets: $18
REDCAT Box Office: 213-237-2800 or redcat.org

5) On the Boards
January 27-30, 2011 at 8 p.m.
Behnke Center for Contemporary Performance
100 W. Roy Street, Seattle, WA
Tickets: $15
On the Boards Box Office: 206-217-9888 or ontheboards.org

6) Dance Affiliates
May 18-21, 2011
The Arts Bank at the University of the Arts
601 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA
danceaffiliates.org

Organizational Information

The Joyce Theater Foundation, a non-profit organization, has proudly served the dance community and its audiences since 1982. The founders, Cora Cahan and Eliot Feld, acquired and renovated the Elgin Theater in Chelsea, which opened as The Joyce Theater in 1982. The Joyce is named in honor of Joyce Mertz, beloved daughter of LuEsther T. Mertz. It was LuEsther's clear, undaunted vision and abundant generosity that made it imaginable and ultimately possible to establish the theater. One of the only theaters built by dancers for dance, The Joyce Theater has provided an intimate and elegant New York home for more than 300 domestic and international companies. The Joyce has also commissioned more than 130 new dances since 1992. In 1996, The Joyce created Joyce SoHo, a dance center providing highly subsidized rehearsal and performance space to thousands of dance artists. The Joyce Theater Foundation also oversees Dance Art New York (DANY) Studios, nine affordable studios, located at 38th Street and Eighth Avenue, that are appropriate for rehearsals, auditions, classes and workshops. The Joyce Theater now features an annual season of approximately 48 weeks with over 340 performances for audiences in excess of 135,000. Additionally, for the past seven years The Joyce has co-presented a summer series of free outdoor dance performances in Lower Manhattan as part of the River To River Festival.

The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago was established in 1969 to house Columbia College Chicago's Dance Department. Early in its history, all the diverse elements of the art were developed within The Dance Center's program. As a complete learning center for dance, it offers a full range of activities designed to enhance and expand the quantity and quality of dance available in Chicago and the Midwest.

The Dance Center is Chicago's leading presenter of contemporary dance. Its presenting series, established in 1974, provides Chicago audiences with opportunities to experience the diversity of contemporary dance in professional settings.

The A.W.A.R.D. Show! 2010: Chicago is supported, in part, by The Boeing Company and the Illinois Arts Council.

Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater (REDCAT)

REDCAT, opened by CalArts in 2003, introduces diverse audiences, students and artists to the most influential developments in the arts from around the world, and gives artists in this region the creative support they need to achieve national and international stature. REDCAT is the newest partner in an international network of adventurous art and performance centers, which together are playing a vital role in the evolution of contemporary culture. REDCAT is a center for experimentation, discovery and highly charged civic discourse.

Housed in the Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles, REDCAT has become one of Los Angeles' most important resources for the creation and presentation of contemporary performing, visual and media arts. REDCAT is committed to providing creative opportunities for artist from around the world and within the Southern California region, and to expanding the depth of engagement between artists and the many communities of Los Angeles.

Founded in 1983 by artistic director Randy Swartz, Dance Affiliates is one of the nation's few remaining dance-only presenters. Its Dance Celebration program is Philadelphia's most acclaimed and longest-running series of world-class contemporary dance, having presented 175 companies in 1,500 performances. In addition, more than 600 outreach programs have provided a wealth of opportunities for the Philadelphia-area community to interact with visiting dance artists through master classes, residencies, artistic collaborations, symposiums, film screenings, workshops, special student programs, and pre and post performance curtain talks, serving more than 30,000 students and aspiring dancers.
In addition to its original production of Thank You Gregory: A Tribute to the Legends of Tap, in 2005, which was revised for a national tour in 2009-2010, Dance Affiliates also conceived and produced The Music That Made Us Dance: From Lindy to Hip Hop in 2006, its first-ever commission for the series featuring Philadelphia's most inventive choreographers and dancers. Dance Affiliates has also commissioned a dozen world-premieres by prominent choreographers including Paul Taylor, David Parsons, Frank Chaves, Danny Ezralow, Bill T. Jones, David Gordon, Eliot Feld and Bella Lewitzky.

ODC Theater has been located in San Francisco's Mission district for over thirty years. Nationally recognized as a cultural landmark, the Theater's mission is to empower and develop innovative artists. Its goals are to participate in the creation of new works through commissioning, presenting, mentorship and space access; to develop informed, engaged and committed audiences; and to advocate for the performing arts as an essential component to the economic and cultural development of our community. Nationally known artists Spalding Gray, Diamanda Galas, Molissa Fenley, Bill T. Jones, Eiko & Koma, Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE, Ban Rarra and Karole Armitage are among those whose first San Francisco appearance occurred at ODC Theater. Today the Theater is home to a thriving Artist in Residence Program, an acclaimed regional and national presenting program, a mentorship program for emerging professionals, and a subsidized rental program for self-Producing Artists. The Theater is a founding member of the SCUBA National Touring Network, and the INNERSTATE California Touring Project for Dance. In October of 2010, the Theater will celebrate its grand re-opening after completing an 8.5 million dollar capital campaign to renovate and expand its facility.
Founded by artists in 1978, the mission of On the Boards is to introduce Northwest audiences to international innovators in contemporary dance, theater and music while developing and presenting new work by promising performing artists in the region. In the past four years alone, On the Boards has presented artists from 13 countries, hosted more than 30 world premieres and commissioned close to 24 brand new works by international and regional artists.

Through its Inter/National series On the Boards was among the first organizations in the country to present and premiere breakthrough performances by visionary, internationally recognized artists such as Laurie Anderson, Bill T. Jones, Spalding Gray, The Wooster Group, dumb type, Needcompany, Sankai Juku, Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker and many others. Similarly, through its NW Series, On the Boards has supported some of the first performances by talented regional artists like 33 Fainting Spells, Sarah Rudinoff, Maureen Whiting Company, Seattle Chamber Players, Allen Johnson, locust, and "Awesome," all of whom have gone on to build a significant national following. As the first organization to present these and other emerging artists in the Northwest, OtB plays a vital role in the regional and national cultural ecology.

In 2010 OtB launched OntheBoards.tv, providing a video-on-demand platform for full length high definition quality performances.

Leadership support for The Joyce Theater Foundation's 2010-2011 season has been received from the LuEsther T. Mertz Charitable Trust.

Major support for The Joyce has been provided by Alphawood Foundation, The Boeing Company, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, First Republic Bank, Fund for the City of New York, The Hearst Foundations, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Open Society Foundations, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, The Rockefeller Foundation, The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, and The Shubert Foundation. Lead support has been provided by American Express, Bloomberg, The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, The Harkness Foundation for Dance, The Jerome Robbins Foundation, MetLife Foundation, and The New York Community Trust.

Programs of The Joyce are made possible, in part, with public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts; the New York State Council on the Arts, celebrating 50 years of building strong, creative communities in New York State's 62 counties; the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation with special thanks to State Senator Thomas K. Duane; and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council with special thanks to Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn.

Special support for The A.W.A.R.D. Show! at Joyce SoHo has been provided by Scott Kasen. Additional support for Joyce SoHo has been provided by The New York Community Trust and Foundation for Contemporary Arts.