Donald Saddler Announced as First Duke Ellington 'Beyond Category' Award Winner

The legendary choreographer/dancer/theatre director Donald Saddler will receive the Duke Ellington Center for the Arts' 1st Annual Duke Ellington "Beyond Category" Award at a special tribute performance on Monday, June 13, 2011 at 8 PM in Merkin Concert Hall in the Elaine Kaufman Center, 129 West 67th Street, between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue. The special award show is a fund-raiser in support of the Duke Ellington Arts Scholarship Fund.

The tribute performance will begin at 8:00 PM following a Black Tie pre-show reception at 7:00 PM in the Upper Lobby of the Merkin Concert Hall.

Tickets, which are tax deductible, are scaled as follows:
Premium -- $250; Regular - $200; General -- $150

Tickets are half-priced in all categories for those who become members of the Duke Ellington Center for the Arts for just $10 (75% off the regular member price of $40). To become a member and purchase your half-priced tickets to the tribute, simply call the Merkin Concert Hall Box Office at 212/501-3330.

Renowned pianists Frank Owens and Jon Weber, who have never before performed together, will be seated at dual pianos displaying their individual and unique keyboard artistries in performing musical numbers associated with Saddler's career as a Broadway, Off Broadway, motion picture and television dancer, director and choreographer, pieces reflecting the changing musical tastes of the periods covering Saddler's distinguished 60 year career

There will be special appearances by a number of the well known performers and choreographers who have collaborated with Saddler in the past, among them Marge Champion, Helen Gallagher, George S. Irving, Carmen de Lavallade, Brenda Anderson, Freddie Franklin and Mercedes Ellington, Host for the evening, who worked with Saddler in the1970's Broadway revival of Irene. Vocalists Catherine Russell and Allan Harris, as well as a number of versatile dancers, will help liven the musical tribute to one of the most illustrious dancers and choreographers who ever graced the stage and motion picture and television screens.

The Duke Ellington "Beyond Category" Award also carries a scholarship which will be awarded each year to a school selected by the recipient. Saddler's choice of schools will be announced at the tribute on June 13. The award itself, a glass hand engraved trophy featuring a replica of Duke Ellington's famous Top Hat, will be presented at the tribute and will be delivered to Saddler the next day at The Actors Home in Englewood, NJ, where Sadler currently resides.

Mercedes Ellington, Founder and President of the Duke Ellington Center for the Arts, is producing and directing the tribute. Russ Weatherford is writing the script.

The Duke Ellington "Beyond Category" Award is one of many honors Donald Saddler has received in his remarkable career. He has won two Tony Awards, one Drama Desk Award, as well as numerous nominations and Lifetime Achievement Awards. His remarkable track record as a theatre, film and television choreographer is well documented.

Forever a dancer, Saddler began his career in 1937. He is a founding member of the American Ballet Theatre (ABT) and a contemporary of Duke Ellington who eventually became the mentor of Duke's granddaughter, Mercedes. As a director, Saddler's involvement in musical theatre, feature films and teleVision Productions pertaining to the world of dance marked the industry for decades. Even at the age of 81, he enchanted Broadway audiences by performing the adagio in the Broadway revival of Follies with fellow dance veteran and lifelong friend Marge Champion. The subject of several documentaries and TV specials, Donald's love of dance was the theme of the highly regarded 2010 film Keep Dancing. Donald Saddler is truly an artist "beyond Category"!