W&EHF Arts Grantees Honored
Each year, Bay Area dance critics and dance community leaders honor local artists through the Isadora Duncan Dance Awards, which recognize outstanding contributions to the field of dance. While W&EHF grantees frequently earn distinction at the ceremony, this year’s celebration was special, with four different Arts grantees receiving awards.
We offer our congratulations to all the winners and encourage you to take a look at the work of these exceptional artists:
Sean Dorsey Dance
Sean Dorsey Dance, one of two Creative Work Fund projects honored in 2019, received this year’s award for Outstanding Achievement in Music/Sound/Text for Boys in Trouble.
Amara Tabor Smith, Ellen Sebastian Chang, and collaborators
Amara Tabor Smith, Ellen Sebastian Chang, and their collaborators’ Creative Work Fund project House/Full of Blackwomen received the Outstanding Achievement in Visual Design award.
World Arts West
Two works produced by World Arts West and created for the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival won top awards:
- OngDance for Outstanding Achievement in Performance by a Company, and
- Jyothi Lakkaraju for Outstanding Achievement in Choreography.
(Jyothi Lakkaraju is 10 years old an adult! Her piece was performed by 10-year old Ananya Tirumala. Jyothi shared her award with Trey McIntyre who was recognized for a new work choreographed for the San Francisco Ballet.)
Axis Dance Company
Oakland’s AXIS Dance Company received the Isadora Duncan Sustained Achievement Award, honoring “30 years of innovative artistry, sustained community engagement, and steadfast local and international advocacy for dancers of all ages and abilities.”
AXIS is comprised of performers with and without disabilities. The Fund supports its dance classes in Oakland public schools, which unite special needs students with traditionally abled students.
Arts, Blog, News, Sean Dorsey Dance, Amara Tabor Smith, Ellen Sebastian Chang, World Arts West, Axis Dance Company
3 Comments
Terry Conway
Actually, Jyothi Lakkaraju is an adult – the dancer who performed her choreography, Ananya Tirumala, was 10 when she performed in our Festival. (We believe she’s 11 now.) Thank you so much for including us in this wrap-up! We are honored to be in such great company.
Celine Schein Das
So nice to see the video made by Kritika Sharma of her experience at the SF Ethnic Dance Festival 2018. She’s not only a beautiful dancer with the Chitresh Das Institute, she’s amazing at creating videos, from concept to shooting to editing!
Frances Phillips
She is, indeed, a beautiful dancer. I’m delighted to learn that she is dancing with the Chitresh Das Institute.