American Dance Festival to Present 2018 Samuel H. Scripps/American Dance Festival Award to Ronald K. Brown

The American Dance Festival (ADF) will present the 2018 Samuel H. Scripps/American Dance Festival Award for lifetime achievement to acclaimed choreographer, Ronald K. Brown. Established in 1981 by Samuel H. Scripps, the annual award honors choreographers who have dedicated their lives and talent to the creation of modern dance. Celebrated dancer, choreographer, and teacher Dianne McIntyre will present the $50,000 award in a brief ceremony on Thursday, June 28th at 8:00pm, prior to the performance of Evidence, A Dance Company at Reynolds Industries Theater.

"We are thrilled to honor Ronald K. Brown with this award. From his beginnings at ADF in 1991 in our Young Choreographers and Composers program, to his glorious solo For You in 2003 in memory of the late ADF Co-Director Stephanie Reinhart, as well as so many other rich works, Ron's dances have exhibited a genuine and unique spirituality and humanism. His work deeply satis es the soul," stated ADF Executive Director Jodee Nimerichter.

Ronald K. Brown founded Evidence, A Dance Company in 1985. He has worked with Mary Anthony Dance Theater, Jennifer Muller/The Works, and other choreographers and artists. Brown has set works on Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ailey II, Cleo Parker Robinson Dance, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Jennifer Muller/The Works, Jeune Ballet d'Afrique Noire, Ko-Thi Dance Company, Philadanco, Muntu Dance Theater of Chicago, Ballet Hispanico, TU Dance, and MalPaso.

He won an AUDELCO Award for his choreography in Regina Taylor's award-winning play Crowns, and received two Black Theater Alliance Awards and a Fred & Adele Astaire Award for Outstanding Choreography in the Tony Award winning Broadway and national touring production of The Gershwins' Porgy & Bess, adapted by Suzan Lori Parks, arranged by Diedre Murray, and directed by Diane Paulus. Brown was named Def Dance Jam Workshop 2000 Mentor of the Year and has received the Doris Duke Artist Award, John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts Choreographers Fellowship, New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship, United States Artists Fellowship, a New York Dance and Performance "Bessie" Award, and The Ailey Apex Award. Brown is a member of Stage Directors & Choreographers Society.

Previously the Samuel H. Scripps/American Dance Festival Award has been presented to Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham, Paul Taylor, Hanya Holm, Alwin Nikolais, Katherine Dunham, Alvin Ailey, Erick Hawkins, Twyla Tharp, Anna Sokolow, Donald McKayle, Talley Beatty, Trisha Brown, Meredith Monk, Anna Halprin, Fayard
and Harold Nicholas, Pina Bausch, Pilobolus, Garth Fagan, Maguy Marin, Eiko and Koma, Bill T. Jones, Murray Louis, Mark Morris, Laura Dean, Ohad Naharin, Martha Clarke, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, William Forsythe, Lin Hwai-min, Anjelin Preljocaj, Lar Lubovitch, Lucinda Childs, and posthumously in honor of Doris Humphrey, Charles Weidman, Jose? Limo?n, Pearl Primus, and Helen Tamiris.

Performances during ADF's 85th season will be presented June 14-July 28, 2018 at the Durham Performing Arts Center, Duke University's Reynolds Industries Theater, and other venues in and around the Raleigh-Durham area.

About ADF:

Throughout its 84-year history, ADF has been a nationally recognized leader in our indigenous art form of modern dance. Generations of dancers and choreographers have come to ADF as students, taught as faculty, and created and performed work as professional artists. Each summer, ADF has been the beating heart of the dance world. The best companies in the world premiere work on ADF's stage, much of it commissioned by the festival. Other festivals and season programs are measured against ADF. Over 25,000 people see performances by more than 30 companies each season. The festival has commissioned 427 works and premiered 689 pieces including dances by Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham, and Paul Taylor. Each summer at ADF, more than 370 students from some 25 countries and 42 states study with ADF's 70 faculty members. They come as kids in leotards with as many doubts as dreams. They leave as dancers and artists-and sometimes even new members of companies. Lives change in those 61⁄2 sweaty weeks. Beyond the summer, ADF maintains year-round dance studios offering movement classes to over 650 participants, provides over 180 free classes to almost 4,000 local dancers, and offers choreographic residences providing artists with the necessary space and time to create. americandancefestival.org.

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