Martha Hill Dance Fund Reveals 2024 Award Recipients

The Martha Hill Dance Fund has announced the honorees of the 2024 Martha Hill Awards to be presented at 6:00 P.M. on Monday, February 26 at Manhattan Penthouse, 80 Fifth Avenue in New York City. This year, dance industry leaders  Joan Myers Brown and Jim May will receive the Fund’s Lifetime Achievement Award, and Jacqulyn Buglisi and Ronald K. Brown will receive the Mid-Career Award. The Martha Hill Dance Fund perpetuates the legacy of Hill whose influence in the world of dance and performance is immeasurable. The Martha Hill Dance Fund ensures access to Hill’s work through published materials, film, digital archives, and other projects established in her name.

The 2024 Martha Hill Awards Gala will be hosted by Norton Owen.

“This year’s awardees are true pioneers – establishing their own companies and advancing the art form on their own terms,” said the Fund’s president, Vernon Scott. “They each embody the best qualities of Miss Hill and her legacy as performer, teacher, and nurturer.” 

JOAN MYERS BROWN

Joan Myers Brown is the founder of The Philadelphia School of Dance and The Philadelphia Dance Company (PHILADANCO). Her many honors include Doctor of Fine Arts (University of Fine Arts Philadelphia), Doctorate in Humane Letters (Ursinus College), Doctor of Arts (University of Pennsylvania), Master of African American Choreography (Kennedy Center), Philadelphia Award, Avenue of Arts Visionary Award (Philadelphia), Alan Cooper Leadership Award (Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation), National Medal of the Arts (presented by President Barack Obama), and a Bessie for Lifetime Achievement. 

Joan Myers Brown’s award will be presented by Robert Garland.

 

JIM MAY

 

Jim May was a devoted disciple of Anna Sokolow for 35 years and co-artistic director of her dance company, Players’ Project, since 1990. As a dancer he has performed with Danny Lewis, Eliot Feld, Kathryn Posin, the José Limón Dance Company and as a soloist for Kazuko Hirabayashi. In addition, he danced with all three of the original DTW founders, Jeff Duncan, Jack Moore and Arthur Bauman. May’s teaching credits include SUNY Purchase, Juilliard School, Princeton University, and the Limón Institute. He taught extensively in Taiwan, where he founded the company Dance Forum Taipei, and in Mexico at Central de Investigacion Corográfica. His awards include the Marcus Award for Teaching Excellence (Washington University), a Fulbright to teach in Chile, and a Bessie for Lifetime Achievement.

Jim May’s award will be presented by Daniel Lewis.

 

JACQULYN BUGLISI

Jacqulyn Buglisi is Artistic Director of Buglisi Dance Theatre, which she co-founded in 1993 following an illustrious career as a principal dancer with Martha Graham Dance Company. As a choreographer, she is a recipient of NEA fellowships, creating nearly 100 works archived in the LPA and commissioned by Alvin Ailey, Martha Graham, Juilliard School’s Emerging Modern Masters, Jacob’s Pillow, and The Joyce Theater, where BDT premiered over 25 dances since 1996. BDT has toured to the Kennedy Center, Prague Int’l Festival, and more. A master teacher of the Graham technique for 50 years, she is Chair, Graham Technique Department at The Ailey/Fordham BFA Program since 1990 and has taught on the faculties of Juilliard, Graham, Chautauqua Institution, Julio Bocca Center Argentina, and Victoria College Melbourne. Her honors include Juilliard President’s Medal, and a Bessie Award for the Table of Silence 9/11 presented with Lincoln Center.  

Jacqulyn Buglisi’s award will be presented by Terese Capucilli. 

RONALD K. BROWN

Ronald K. Brown founded EVIDENCE, A Dance Company in 1985. He has worked with Mary Anthony and Jennifer Muller among others. Brown has set works on Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ailey II, Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Ballet Hispánico, and many more. Honors include 2020 Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award, the AUDELCO Award, two Black Theater Alliance Awards, and a Fred & Adele Astaire Award for Outstanding Choreography for Porgy & Bess. Others include 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, Dance Magazine Award, and The Ailey Apex Award.

Ronald K. Brown’s award will be presented by Arcell Cabuag.

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