Metro DC Dance Awards > About

About

About
Process
2010 Nominees
Past Winners
Ceremony
Silent Auction
Donors

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The Metro DC Dance Awards was founded in 2000 by Cheles Rhynes and Mason/Rhynes Productions as a means of recognizing excellence in local dance and building community among DC-area dance artists and organizations.

Dance/MetroDC , a branch office of Dance/USA , the national service organization for nonprofit professional dance, became the lead organization for MDCDA in 2006.

In the summer of 2008, evolutions to the nominating process were planned and unveiled just post the September 8, 2008 Awards Ceremony. For details on these changes, please visit the Process section under the Awards heading on this website.

The selection committee for the 2008/2009 season is listed below. As in previous years, these individuals donate their time to see as much of the region’s dance artists at work. 

How does the Selection Committee get to see your concerts?
To keep the artists of the region and those on the selection committee in close dialogue, we are suggesting the following means to get your work and the selection committee’s eyes on your work:
Artists and Presenters: You can invite any and all of the selection committee to view your work: We understand that complimentary tickets are not always available or cost-effective for those producing work. If you are able to offer a finite number of complimentary tickets to a given production, you are in charge as to how you want to disperse them.

A suggestion: you can send an email to all members of the selection committee, along with a cc: to info@dancemetrodc.org inviting them to come to a particular performance or the run of a show. If you are able to guarantee a finite number of tickets free, state the number and offer first come, first serve to the members of the committee. They will respond accordingly.

Members of the committee may request a companion ticket. It is up to you as an artist or presenter how you wish to handle the request. We have encouraged committee members when able to introduce an artist’s work to those who might not otherwise see it. Sometimes a request for more than one ticket is due to ease of traveling to a venue and getting to and from safely. If you are able to comply with a companion ticket request, great. If not, it will not reflect on a committee member’s evaluation of the concert and the work.

Selection Committee: You can contact the artist and/or presenter to request complimentary ticket to view the work: Selection Committee members are encouraged to see as much a variety of dance as they can. So, they may give a call to an artist or presenter to request tickets. Understandably, this request cannot always be met. But in the effort to get to see some new-to-them work we hope that open communication between all can offer the opportunity see more and different art in the current season.

What if no one from the Selection Committee sees my concert?
Since anyone can nominate your work, any audience member or company affiliated person can nominate any aspect of the work shown. And while we encourage folks to see what they can, the reality of the numbers of performances precluded the consequent reality of full attendance.

When a nomination is made, there is room for a qualifying statement from the person nominating, asking for a few sentences of support for the art/artist being nominated.  This statement, along with the new format of panel discussion reviewing the submitted tapes/dvd’s post-nomination, will form the basis of the panel’s decision.

The 2009 Metro DC Dance Awards and Honor Selection Committee

Ashley Baer -      akbaer@kennedy-center.org

Enoch Chan -      enoch@deviatedart.com

Cathy Elliot -       cheliot@yahoo.com

Nikki Ghambir -   nrgdnce@yahoo.com

Helen Hayes -     HelenLHayes@aol.com

Sharon Mansur -  sharonmansur@hotmail.com

Alvin Mayes -       amayes@umd.edu

Richard Pilkinton -  rbpilkinton@gmail.com

Naima Prevots -     prevots@american.edu

Heidi Schimpf -      heidi@joyofmotion.org

Christel Stevens -   Christel.Stevens@pgparks.com

Shula   Strassfeld - shula.strassfeld@gmail.com

Sylvia   Soumah -    coyabadance@yahoo.com

Lisa Swenton-Eppard -  laswenton@aol.com

Harriet Williams -   harrietmwms@juno.com

Please include info@dancemetrodc.org on your invitations for complimentary tickets to see your work live.

Next Reflex Dance Collective
It is NRDC's mission to create dance collaboratively with artists of all disciplines and to support the creation of experimental dance work. We believe that the sharing of ideas facilitates creativity on many levels while also reaching a broader audience. As a unit, we are committed to creating new work which challenges ideas and broadens our perceptions, while also encouraging experimentation at the highest level.  Photo by Enoch Chan.
www.nextreflexdc.com

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