In a joyous ceremony that ended only one hour ago at Symphony Space on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, two West Coast choreographers were among those honored with Bessie dance awards.
The awards returned with a vengeance following a one-year hiatus.
Faye Driscoll of Los Angeles was recognized for her dance-theater piece “837 Venice Boulevard.” Accepting the award, Driscoll said, “This is for any kid who’s lonely, confused about their sexuality, or abused. You can get through it … and win a Bessie!”
San Francisco-based Keith Hennessy won a Bessie for his Joseph Beuys-inspired installation/performance, “Crotch.”
Two shows that Angelenos saw at REDCAT performance space won awards: Grupo de Rua’s H3, and the reconstruction of Anna Halprin and Morton Subotnick’s “parades & changes, replays.” Also, reminds REDCAT comms specialist, Diana Wyenn, Bessie award winner Heather Olson was at REDCAT the week prior to the awards dancing with Tere O’Connor.
arts•meme favorite, Kyle Abraham, a Pittsburgh homeboy, won a Bessie award for “The Radio Show,” seen at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival this summer.
Costume designer Isaac Mizrahi, hilarious, hosted the lively event, distinguishing himself by inserting the word “fabulous” into almost every sentence, and making it sound genuine each time.
Dance-world celebs Michael Blake, Ismael Houston-Jones, H.T. Chen, Virginia Johnson, Carmen de Lavallade, Yvonne Rainer, Tina Ramirez, Valda Setterfield, Gus Solomons, Jr., Jock Soto, Elizabeth Streb, Jennifer Tipton, and Dudley Williams were either award-presenters or in the audience during the fun bohemian take on the Oscars.
Hey, that’s so great you got to go to the Bessies. I used to love that event . . . it was at BAM back then. I was able to go in ’05 when it was at the Joyce and, even being out of the NY loop, I found it inspiring and fun!