The Chita Rivera Awards Set 2024 Date

The 2024 Chita Rivera Awards will take place on Monday, May 20 at the NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts (566 LaGuardia Place off of Washington Square Park), it was announced today by Joe Lanteri, Founder and Executive Director of the New York City Dance Alliance Foundation, Inc. Lanteri produces in conjunction with Patricia Watt.

The nominations for the 2024 Chita Rivera Awards will be announced Friday, April 26 and the “Meet the Nominees” press event will take on Monday, May 6. This year’s cut-off for nominators to see eligible shows is April 25.

Carrying the name of one of the great dance icons of the American musical theater, the Chita Rivera Awards celebrate dance and choreographic excellence - past, present and future. The awards honor the superb achievement of each nominee, while recognizing the talents and passion of every theatrical choreographer and dancer. Additionally, through education and scholarships, the awards are committed to nurturing future generations, as well as preserving notable dance history.

Nominators will consider outstanding choreography, featured dancers and ensembles in productions on Broadway and off-Broadway as well as outstanding choreography in film, that opened in the 2023-2024 season. Nominations will be determined by the designated nominating committees. There are separate nominating committees for Broadway and Film. There is also an awarding committee for Broadway, which determines recipients that are received from the Broadway nominations committee.

The off-Broadway honors won't have competitive categories with nominees, and, as was the case last year, will be chosen by the Awarding committee.

The awards for Lifetime Achievement, Outstanding Contribution to Musical Theater, and Outstanding Contribution to the Arts and Humanities, as well as when tickets go on sale, will be announced in the coming weeks.

The NYC Dance Alliance Foundation College Scholarship Program will be the beneficiary of the event. Since the inception of the Foundation, over $4.5 million has been awarded to over 500 dancers attending 50 of the most prestigious college dance programs in the country.

ABOUT Chita Rivera

A theatrical icon and one of Broadway's greatest triple-threat talents, Chita Rivera is one of the most nominated performers in Tony Award history having earned 10 nominations, won twice and received the 2018 Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre. A versatile actress/singer/dancer, her most recent starring roles include The Visit, the final John Kander/Fred Ebb/Terrence McNally musical directed by John Doyle and choreographed by Graciela Daniele on Broadway; the Broadway revival of The Mystery of Edwin Drood; the Broadway and touring productions of The Dancer’s Life, a dazzling musical celebrating her spectacular career, written by Terrence McNally and directed by Graciela Daniele and the revival of the Broadway musical Nine with Antonio Banderas. She trained as a ballerina (from age nine) before receiving a scholarship to the School of American Ballet from the legendary choreographer George Balanchine. Chita’s first appearance (age 19) was as a principal dancer in Call Me Madam. Her electric performance as Anita in the original Broadway premiere of West Side Story brought her stardom, which she repeated in London. Her career is highlighted by starring roles in Bye Birdie, The Rink (Tony Award), Chicago, Jerry’s Girls, Kiss of the Spider Woman (Tony Award), and the original Broadway casts of Guys and Dolls, Can-Can, Seventh Heaven and Mr. Wonderful. On tour: Born Yesterday, The Rose Tattoo, Call Me Madam, Threepenny Opera, Sweet Charity, Kiss Me Kate, Zorba, Can-Can with The Rockettes. Chita was awarded The Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama and received the coveted Kennedy Center Honor. She has headlined with her solo concert at New York’s Carnegie Hall and London’s Cadogan Hall, was honored as a Living Landmark by the New York Landmarks Conservancy; and Great Performances aired their special Chita Rivera: A Lot of Livin’ To Do, a retrospective of her extraordinary life and career on PBS. Her current solo CD is entitled, And Now I Swing. Chita’s long-awaited critically acclaimed book Chita: A Memoir, was published by HarperOne in April, 2023. Her most treasured production is her daughter, singer/dancer/choreographer Lisa Mordente.