2026 Chita Rivera Awards Set for May at the NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts

The 2026 Chita Rivera Awards will take place on Monday, May 18 at the NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts.

Carrying the name of one of the great dance icons of the American musical theater, the Chita Rivera Awards celebrate dance and choreographic excellence - past, present and future. The awards honor the superb achievement of each nominee, while recognizing the talents and passion of every theatrical choreographer and dancer. Additionally, through education and scholarships, the awards are committed to nurturing future generations, as well as preserving notable dance history.

Nominators will consider outstanding choreography, featured dancers and ensembles in productions on Broadway and Off Broadway as well as outstanding choreography in film, that opened in the 2025-2026 season. Nominations will be determined by the designated nominating committees. There are separate nominating committees for Broadway and Film, and there is also an awarding committee for Broadway, which determines recipients that are received from the Broadway nominations committee.

The off-Broadway honors won't have competitive categories with nominees, and they will be chosen by the Awarding Committee, as was the case last year

The Outstanding Dancer in a Broadway Show category will continue to be gender-free. This category will have twice as many nominees as the former gendered categories. There will be two winners.

The awards for Outstanding Contribution to the Arts and Humanities, as well as when tickets go on sale, will be announced in the coming weeks.

The NYC Dance Alliance Foundation College Scholarship Program will be the beneficiary of the event. Since the inception of the Foundation, over $5.4 million has been awarded to over 600 dancers attending 50 of the most prestigious college dance programs in the country.

2025-2026 Chita Rivera AWARD NOMINATING COMMITTEES

Awarding Committee

Chair: Sylviane Gold, Gary Chryst, Robert LaFosse, Donna McKechnie, Wendy Perron, Stephanie Pope, and Lee Roy Reams

Broadway Nominating Committee

Melinda Atwood, Caitlin Carter, Gary Chryst, Don Correia, Sandy Duncan, Peter Filichia, Dr. Louis Galli, Sylviane Gold, Jonathan Herzog, Robert La Fosse, Joe Lanteri, Donna McKechnie, Michael Milton, Mary Beth O'Connor, Wendy Perron, Stephanie Pope, Lee Roy Reams, Desmond Richardson, Andy Sandberg, and Randy Skinner

Film Nominating Committee