PDS Gypsy Awards to Honor Paula Abdul; Special Tribute to Dick Van Dyke Planned

Award winning singer/ dancer/choreographer Paula Abdul has been named the honoree for the Professional Dancers Society's (PDS) annual Gypsy Awards Luncheon, it was announced by PDS President, Mitzi Gaynor and PDS Board Chairman, Joni Berry. Ms. Abdul will be honored on Sunday, April 24th at the Beverly Hilton Hotel (9876 Wilshire Blvd.) and famed choreographers Carl Jablonski and Kevin Carlisle will receive PDS Choreography Awards, for their extraordinary contribution to dance. In a special tribute, legendary entertainer Dick Van Dyke will receive The Dance Legacy Award.

"In celebration of PDS' 29th anniversary, we are pleased to be honoring the multi-talented Paula Abdul as well as two wonderful choreographers, Carl Jablonski and Kevin Carlisle and our dear PDS friend, Dick Van Dyke for their lifetime of work" said Joni Berry, Luncheon Chairman.

The Professional Dancers Society (PDS) is an affiliate of The Actors Fund of America. PDS is a non-profit corporation formed to serve the professional dancer, active and inactive and with The Actors Fund of America is achieving the long-needed goals of low income housing; plus retirement and nursing facilities for dancers on both coasts. Previous Gypsy Award winners include Carol Burnett, Rita Moreno, Ben Vereen, Dick Van Dyke, Angela Lansbury, Carl Reiner, Ann-Margret, Florence Henderson, Mary Tyler Moore, Chita Rivera, Julie Andrews, Leslie Caron and Carol Lawrence.

The April 24th event will begin at 11:00am Cocktails, followed by a Noon Luncheon and the Awards at 1:00pm. For more information about the event including tickets or ads, please visit www.professionaldancerssociety.org or call (310) 278-5222.

A three-time Emmy Award winner, Grammy Award winner, American Music Award winner and multi-platinum recording artist (60 million sales worldwide), Paula Abdul has been entertaining her fans for over 25 years as a singer, songwriter, dancer, choreographer, television personality, producer and entrepreneur. Currently, she can be seen as a judge on FOX's hit dance competition show "So You Think You Can Dance" (following a season as judge on "So You Think You Can Dance - Australia"). After saying goodbye to American Idol in 2010 and serving as Executive Producer and creative partner for the CBS reality-competition series "Live To Dance," Paula returned to network television in September 2011 with FOX's highly anticipated "The X Factor." Paula also had a recurring guest star on the Lifetime series "Drop Dead Diva."

Paula is also very active in her community as a spokesperson and advocate for national charity organizations such as the American Humane Association's "Pets and Women's Shelters" (PAWS) Program, the foundations of Natural Balance Pet Food and Petco (raising funds for non­profit guide-dog schools). This year, Paula partnered with Turnaround Arts, a signature program of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities, to adopt a school in Brooklyn, New York and to help foster arts education in impoverished schools across the nation. In 2014, the Avon Foundation for Women tapped into Paula to become their Avon Global Ambassador for their international #CheckYourself digital campaign in support of Breast Cancer Awareness month. Paula, alongside the Avon Foundation, directed, produced, choreographed and starred in the campaign, which garnered half a billion media impressions around the world.

Paula's career began at a young age when she joined the Laker Girls as cheerleader and choreographer. Her most celebrated works in choreography include her Emmy winning contributions to the "Tracey Ullman Show." Shortly thereafter, Paula was double nominated for her groundbreaking choreography for the 62nd Annual Academy Awards and her own performance on the "American Music Awards", for which she won an Emmy. She won 7 MTV Awards for her work with Janet Jackson and has also choreographed for Duran Duran, ZZ Top, The Jackson family, George Michael, Luther Vandross, JNXS, Heart and Prince. In film, she choreographed the memorable African wedding dance scene with Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall in "Coming to America" and also Cuba Gooding Jr. for "Jerry Maguire." She also transformed Val Kilmer into the iconic Jim Morrison in "The Doors."

In 1989, Paula became a worldwide singing sensation with her first album, "Forever Your Girl." After the single "Straight Up" exploded onto the charts, the album went multi-platinum and featured an astonishing four #1 singles. "Spellbound," her second #1 album followed in 1991 to similar worldwide success, featuring two #1 singles. A sold-out worldwide arena tour came next, and in 1995 Paula released her third album entitled "Head Over Heels," and has achieved a remarkable ten top ten career singles with six number ones.

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