This event has already occurred. Please enjoy photos and event information below.

When: Wednesday, July 17, 2013, 5:00-7:00 p.m.
Where: Gibney Dance, 890 Broadway, 5th Floor (between East 19th and East 20th Streets), New York, NY

                                   

The Bessie Awards Steering Committee: Cora Cahan, Beverly D'Anne, Lane Harwell, Judy Hussie-Taylor, Carla Peterson, Laurie Uprichard, Martin Wechsler, and Reggie Wilson, invite you to an evening of cocktails and hors d' oeuvres. Following the cocktails, nominations will be announced for The Bessie Awards honoring work from the 2012/2013 season and the following awards will be presented: Juried Bessie Award 2013, and Bessie Award for Emerging Choreographer.

Tickets are $50

The 2013 Bessie Jury: Ishmael Houston-Jones, Eiko Otake, and Jason Samuels Smith, will announce their choice for the Juried Bessie Award. This jury of acclaimed choreographers is chosen each year by the Bessie Steering Committee. Together they have selected a single work or choreographer that exhibits the most interesting and exciting ideas happening in dance in New York City today. The honored dance maker will tour their work to one or more regional theaters outside of the City. This annual affair has become one of the most anticipated dance events in New York. Additionally for the first time the Bessie Selection Committee will present the Emerging Choreographer Award at this event.

The Bessie committees look forward to raising a glass with you!

The Bessies Award Cocktail Party is a fundraiser to benefit the Bessies, a sponsored program of Performance Zone Inc (dba The Field), a not-for-profit, tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) organization. Contributions are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. You will receive a tax deduction for all but the $15 value of refreshments.

The New York Dance and Performance Awards, aka the Bessies, have saluted outstanding dance work since 1984. They were founded by David White and named for the treasured teacher of dance and composition, Bessie Schonberg. The 2012 awards ceremony will be on October 7, 2013 at the legendary Apollo Theater. www.dancenyc.org/bessies

Dance/NYC's mission is to bolster the support structure for dance in the New York City metropolitan area, serving as a voice and guide for dance artists and managers. Dance/NYC works in alliance with Dance/USA, the national service organization for professional dance, to achieve this mission and execute on core program areas. www.dancenyc.org

The Bessies are co-sponsored by the Mertz Gilmore Foundation, The Jerome Robbins Foundation, Doris Duke Charitable Trust, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and Harkness Foundation for Dance. We thank them for their support and for all they do for dance.

The Bessies are sponsored by The Field, a not-for-profit, tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) organization serving the New York City performing arts community. Contributions made to The Field and earmarked for The Bessies are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. For more information about The Field contact: The Field, 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 906, (212)691-6969, www.thefield.org. A copy of The Field’s latest annual report may be obtained, upon request, from The Field or from the Office of the Attorney General, Charities Bureau, 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271.