The Bessies Announce Presenters for 37th Annual Bessie Awards and Charmaine Warren as 2021 Bessies Angel Honoree

The NY Dance and Performance Awards, The Bessies, New York City's premier dance awards honoring outstanding creative work in the field, announced the presenters for the 37th Annual Bessie Awards ceremony. The virtual ceremony will take place on Monday, October 11, at 7:30pm. For a complete list of nominees, click here.

This year's presenters include notable members of the dance and performance community including Arthur Avilés, Monica Bill Barnes, Tina Croll, Tess Dworman, Nia Love, Annie-B Parson, Charles Rice Gonzales, and Bijayini Satpathy.

As previously announced, the ceremony will include special presentations to two pillars of the dance community-George Faison, the 2021 Lifetime Achievement Honoree, and DanceAfrica, recipient of the 2021 Bessie Award for Outstanding Service to the Field of Dance.

The program will feature videos of all the nominated artists and works. The evening will also include tributes to essential dance workers and all those who work behind the scenes and are central to making live and online performance happen in New York. The Bessies will also introduce #ArtistSupportStories, a social media video campaign where anyone in the community can lift up an individual, group, or organization from the dance community who supported them in some way during the pandemic.

The Bessies pre-ceremony Angel Party will honor performer, dance historian, curator, producer, and educator Charmaine Warren for her unwavering commitment to dance and community. "From Charmaine's extraordinary career as a brilliant dancer and performer, to supporting The Bessies in the early days through her enthusiastic presence on the Committee, to founding Black Dance Stories, to her masterful producing of DanceAfrica, to co-founding Dance on the Lawn, to her teaching and mentoring-Charmaine's vision and advocacy in dance are exemplary and revolutionary," said Bessies Executive Director Heather Robles.

The celebration will continue at the free virtual Bessies after-party.

Tickets for the 2021 virtual Bessie Awards ceremony can be reserved online here. For more information about this year's pre-ceremony Angel Party and to purchase tickets, click here.