Nominees For The 2021 Bessie Awards Announced
The 37th Annual Bessie Awards ceremony will be livestreamed on Monday, October 11, 2021, at 7:30PM ET.
The NY Dance and Performance Awards, The Bessies, New York City's premier dance awards honoring outstanding creative work in the field, today announced the nominees for the 2021 Bessie Awards. Digital performances presented between March 15, 2020 and May 31, 2021, and in-person performances presented between June 1, 2020 and May 31, 2021, were considered for Bessie nominations. Award categories include Outstanding Production, Outstanding Performer, Outstanding Revival, Outstanding Music Composition or Sound Design, Outstanding Visual Design, and Outstanding Breakout Choreographer, which recognizes an artist who has made an exceptional leap in visibility and impact in their career this past season. The list of nominations follows.
"Dance artists and their collaborators have continued to dream and build during the pandemic. They have called upon each of us to reimagine and commit our collective movement toward equity, justice, and healing. We are thrilled to celebrate their work and the resilience of our community at the virtual 2021 Bessies Ceremony," said Bessies Executive Director Heather Robles.
The 37th Annual Bessie Awards ceremony will be livestreamed on Monday, October 11, 2021, at 7:30PM ET. Reservations for the ceremony will be available starting September 20.
Outstanding Production:
Kyle Abraham
When We Fell
New York City Ballet at the David H. Koch Theater
Kyle Abraham and Taylor Stanley
Ces noms que nous portons
New York City Ballet and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Stefanie Batten Bland
Kolonial
Baryshnikov Arts Center
mayfield brooks
Whale Fall
Abrons Arts Center
Ayodele Casel
Chasing Magic
The Joyce Theater
Janessa Clark
Communion
Janessa Clark and HERE Arts Center
Johnnie Cruise Mercer
_AShadowPrince
Presented through Stephen Petronio Company's Bloodlines(future) program
Israel Galván
Maestro de Barra
The Joyce Theater
Indigenous Enterprise
Indigenous Enterprise: Powwow Style
The Joyce Theater
Eiko Otake
A Body in a Cemetery
Pioneer Works and Green-Wood Cemetery
Mariana Valencia
Brownout
Baryshnikov Arts Center
Saul Williams, Bill T. Jones, Maria Bauman, Kayla Farrish, Marjani Forté-Saunders, d. Sabela grimes, Jasmine Hearn, and Shamel Pitts
The Motherboard Suite
New York Live Arts
Outstanding Performer:
LaTasha Barnes
Sustained Achievement
Isabella Boylston
Sustained Achievement with American Ballet Theatre
Marc Crousillat
Watermotor by Trisha Brown
The Joyce Theater
d. Sabela grimes
The Motherboard Suite, We get what you deserve
New York Live Arts
Jasmine Hearn
The Motherboard Suite, Order of Time
New York Live Arts
Princess Lockerooo
Sustained Achievement
Sara Mearns
State of Darkness by Molissa Fenley
The Joyce Theater
Anjali Mehta
Descent by Anjali Mehta
The Artivist's Studio and Lion Party Films
Annique Roberts
Sustained Achievement with Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE
Nicholas Sciscione
Bloodlines Season 7 by Stephen Petronio Company
The Joyce Theater
Michael Trusnovec
State of Darkness by Molissa Fenley
The Joyce Theater
Huiwang Zhang
OUR LABYRINTH by Lee Mingwei/Bill T. Jones
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Outstanding Revival:
State of Darkness
By Molissa Fenley
The Joyce Theater
Watermotor
By Trisha Brown
Trisha Brown Dance Company
The Joyce Theater
Outstanding Music Composition/Sound Design:
Monstah Black
For _AShadowPrince by Johnnie Cruise Mercer
Presented through Stephen Petronio Company's Bloodlines(future) program
Pedro León and Manu Prieto
For Maestro de Barra by Israel Galván
The Joyce Theater
Arturo O'Farrill, Crystal Monee Hall (singer/songwriter), Annastasia Victory (music director and composer), and Senfu Stoney (percussionist)
For Chasing Magic by Ayodele Casel
The Joyce Theater
Saul Williams
For The Motherboard Suite
New York Live Arts
Outstanding Visual Design:
Kyle Abraham (Director), Ryan Marie Helfant (Director & Director of Photography), Eric K. Yue (Director of Photography), and Esteban Pedraza (Editor)
When We Fell by Kyle Abraham
New York City Ballet at the David H. Koch Theater
Tei Blow and Sean McElroy
Visuals
The Sprezzaturameron by Tei Blow and Sean McElroy
Baryshnikov Arts Center
Conrad Quesen (installation) and Shane Ballard (costumes)
Kolonial by Stefanie Batten Bland
Baryshnikov Arts Center
Catalin Stelian (Director of Photography, Cinematography, Editor), Kofi Assane Opare (Cinematography), and Kweku Amantey Opare (Editor)
Steel Standing by Fritzlyn Hector
DanceAfrica 2021
Brooklyn Academy of Music
Outstanding Breakout Choreographer:
Hope Boykin
Johnnie Cruise Mercer
Maleek Washington
André M. Zachery
The Bessies Steering Committee, responsible for setting policy and providing oversight for the Bessie Awards throughout the year, is comprised of Cora Cahan, Judy Hussie-Taylor, Jeanne Linnes, Stanford Makishi, Nicky Paraiso, Carla Peterson, Craig Peterson, Gus Solomons jr, Paz Tanjuaquio, Laurie Uprichard, and Charmaine Warren.
The 2020-2021 Bessies Selection Committee: Ronald Kevin Alexander, Charles Vincent Burwell, Maria Baranova-Suzuki, Michele Byrd-McPhee, Yoshiko Chuma, Sangeeta Ghosh Yesley, Celia Ipiotis, Benjamin Akio Kimitch, Koosil-ja, Anabella Lenzu, Adesola Osakalumi, Pam Pietro, Tiffany Rea-Fisher, Elka Samuel Smith, George Emílio Sanchez, Elgie Gaynell Sherrod, Andrea Snyder, Ivan Talijancic, and Philip Treviño.
More Hot Stories For You

February 2, 2023
Ballet Hispánico, the nation's largest Latinx cultural organization and one of America's Cultural Treasures, returns to New York City Center after its critically and publicly acclaimed run of Doña Perón. From June 1-3, 2023, Ballet Hispánico will present a mixed bill curated by Artistic Director & CEO Eduardo Vilaro featuring repertory favorites, two new commissions and an exciting new addition to the repertory.

February 2, 2023
American Ballet Theatre has announced that ABT apprentice Aleisha Walker won a coveted Young Creation Award at the 2023 Prix de Lausanne 50th Anniversary Competition in Lausanne, Switzerland.

February 1, 2023
Celebrating its 15th anniversary in 2023, New York City-based Tom Gold Dance will present its annual spring season, featuring the work of Tom Gold Dance Founder and Director Tom Gold, Wednesday, April 12 and Thursday, April 13, 2023 at The Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College.

February 1, 2023
The world-renowned Martha Graham Dance Company returns to The Joyce Theater with three exciting programs April 18–30, 2023. The season features world premieres by Baye & Asa and Annie Rigney, Hofesh Shechter's high-energy CAVE, and the mesmerizing Canticle for Innocent Comedians, a multi-choreographer work directed by Sonya Tayeh featuring an original score by jazz great Jason Moran.

January 31, 2023
NYU Skirball will present the world premiere of Keely Garfield's The Invisible Project, a ritualized performance inspired by Garfield's work as an enduring dance artist, and her covert calling as a hospital chaplain, running March 10 – 12 at NYU Skirball.