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It's our handy guide to The A.W.A.R.D. Show!
Think of it as So You Think You Can Choreograph if you have to, although The A.W.A.R.D. Show! is as much about the ideas behind the work as it is about what you see onstage. When ranking four dance makers by secret ballot at semifinals beginning Wednesday 28, audience members are instructed to give originality, potential and execution equal weight. On July 31, one of the three finalists will receive a $10,000 grant awarded through a combination of audience response and a panel’s adjudication. (Funding by Boeing brought the love-it-or-hate-it program, which originated in NYC, to Chicago last year.) We asked the 12 competitors about their entries, including three words they’d use to describe them.
July 28
Jacqueline Stewart
My entry is… beautiful, ever-changing and malleable
Are you marketing the show? Facebook has been key. I don’t write statuses unless they deal with me winning $10,000.
Why should you win? Because I’m an independent choreographer, active dancer, art lover and idea activist.
Kate Corby
My entry is… David Lynch, Merce Cunningham and Mean Girls
Did you attend the competition last year? No, I was overseas, actually. That’s a phrase I try to use as often as possible.
Your team slogan? If Ke$ha can get a record contract, we can certainly rock this.
Alicia Wilson
My entry is… about looking, observing and watching
Are you familiar with the other choreographers here? No, but I have been stalking them on the Internet.
Any words for the audience? Don’t ask me what my dance was about. I want to know what you saw.
Mike Gosney
My entry is… intimate, intricate and thought-provoking
Years as a choreographer 15
I want to… invite the audience into our story
If I win… I’ll pay and costume my dancers, and rent rehearsal space.
July 29
Michel Rodriguez
My entry is… clear, physical and tense
If I win… I will be really happy, because it would be el fruto de mi trabajo.
Any words for the audience or your competitors? See you there.
Molly Shanahan
My entry is… luscious intertwining loops
With $10,000, I would… pay my dancers. Period.
Any words for the audience? This is art, y’all, and show business, and it’s a big fat mess of the sacred and profane. Now get out and participate. Please.
Peter Carpenter
My entry is… historically savvy, layered and political
Did you attend last year? No way. Competitions are weird.
If I win… I’ll pay my dancers something a little bit closer to what they’re worth.
Your team slogan? Dance will save the world, one tendu at a time.
Rebecca Lemme
My entry is… delicate, touchable and vulnerable
Why should you win? I gave heartily to Obama’s campaign. I need a little back now.
How long have you been making dance? Ten years. Making dance I’ll want to look back at in ten more years? About five minutes.
July 30
Mary Tisa
My entry is… home, retrograde and sky
Why should you win? Because I make pretty dances.
Any words for the audience? The hard work is done. Just sit back and enjoy it all.
Ginger Krebs and Andy Braddock
Our entry is… magnetic north, S.O.S.
Why should you win? Because our parallel universe is better.
Are you familiar with the other choreographers here? They’re on our radar.
Any words for the audience or your competitors? We are getting ever closer.…
Philip Elson
My entry is… resilient, perceptive and vigorous
Why should you win? Because my work is vibrant.
Your team slogan? Get it!
Any words for the audience? Don’t watch this competition and judge based on what dance “is.” Observe and choose based on what dance is becoming.
Joanna Rosenthal
My entry is… dramatic, intriguing and sexy
Are you marketing the show? Making the dancers go door-to-door. Just kidding.
Your team slogan? Bring it!
