The Isadora Duncan Dance Awards Committee celebrates 32 years of honoring local dance artists by acknowledging their outstanding achievements in dance.
During each 12-month performance cycle, running September 1-August 31, the volunteer “Izzies” Committee collectively views over 400 eligible performances. The final nominees and honorees are selected at an annual voting meeting held in September. Member profiles and lists of previous nominees and award winners are available online at izzies-sf.org.
The Izzies acknowledge exceptional creative achievements in the performance and presentation of dance. Awards are given in nine categories to honor the dancers, choreographers, designers, composers, dance companies, dance scholars and other individuals who have made important contributions to the San Francisco Bay Area’s thriving dance community. The winners will be honored at an awards ceremony, which will be held in the spring.
The following is a list of Nominees and Honorees by awards category:
Outstanding Achievement in Choreography
- Kim Epifano, Last Blue Coach in the Sky: Street Stroll Section, Epiphany Dance Theater, SoMa District Streets, San Francisco
- Lizz Roman, Sunset Dances: Architectural Meditations II, Lizz Roman & Dancers, home salon performances, San Francisco
- Amy Seiwert, Wandering, Amy Seiwert’s Imagery, Cowell Theater, San Francisco
- Rudi Soriano, Birds in Flight, Likha Pilipino Folk Ensemble, War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco
- Myles Thatcher, Ghost in the Machine, San Francisco Ballet, War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco
Outstanding Achievement in Performance – Individual
- Isaiah Bindel, Les Verités, dawsondancesf, YBCA Theater, San Francisco
- Frances Chung, Frankenstein, San Francisco Ballet, War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco
- Megan Lowe, Grace and Delia Are Gone, Flyaway Productions, Firehouse at Fort Mason, San Francisco
- Ben Needham-Wood, Be Here Now, Smuin Ballet, YBCA Theater, San Francisco
- Tegan Schwab, What we carry/What we keep, ODC/Dance, YBCA Theater, San Francisco
- Amara Tabor-Smith, Black/TIME, Joe Goode Annex, San Francisco
Outstanding Achievement in Performance – Ensemble
- Delvis Frinon, Adonis Martin, and Edisnel Rodriguez, Defection-Deflection-Devotion from Love in a Bitter Time, Part II, Dance Brigade, YBCA Theater, San Francisco
- Christine Funsch and Nol Simonse, Prelude from Le grand spectacle de l’effort et de l’artifice, Funsch Dance Experience, ODC Theater, San Francisco
- Mary Starr Hope and Karla Quintero, The Two Sisters from Grace and Delia Are Gone, Flyaway Productions, Firehouse at Fort Mason, San Francisco
- Arvejon Jones and Will Woodward, Sweet Time from Boys Bite Back, Sean Dorsey Dance, Z Space, San Francisco
- Vitor Luiz and Joseph Walsh, Act 3 pas de deux from Frankenstein, War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco
Outstanding Achievement in Performance – Company
- Abhinaya Dance Company of San José, Vaanara Leela: Monkeys in the Ramayana, School of Arts & Culture at Mexican Heritage Plaza, San José
- Ballet Folklórico México Danza, La Revolución, War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco
- Flyaway Productions, Grace and Delia Are Gone, Firehouse at Fort Mason, San Francisco
- Lizz Roman & Dancers, Sunset Dances: Architectural Meditations II, home salon performances, San Francisco
- ODC/Dance, Giant, YBCA Theater, San Francisco
- San Francisco Ballet Corps de Ballet, Acts 2 and 4 of Swan Lake, War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco
Outstanding Achievement in Music/Sound/Text
- Tatsu Aoki, Melody Takata, and Frances Wong, The Eye of Compassion, Lenora Lee Dance, Donaldina Cameron House, San Francisco
- Dan Cantress, Jordan Glenn, and Darren Johnston, Time’s Arrow, Deborah Slater Dance Theater, Studio 210, San Francisco
- Claire Cunningham, Jess Curtis. and Alva Noë, The Way You Look (at me) Tonight, Jess Curtis Gravity, CounterPulse, San Francisco
- Marc Bamuthi Joseph and Tommy Shepherd, /peh-LO-tah/, Living Word Project, YBCA Theater, San Francisco
- Lowell Liebermann, Frankenstein, San Francisco Ballet, War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco
Outstanding Achievement in Visual Design
- Yoshi Asai, Singsong Kim, Dana Kawano, Dohee Lee, and Alenka Loesch, ARA Ritual I:Waterways, Dohee Lee Puri Arts, CounterPulse, San Francisco
- Tatsu Aoki and Lenora Lee, The Eye of Compassion, Lenora Lee Dance, Donaldina Cameron House, San Francisco
- David Finn, John Macfarlane, and Finn Ross, Frankenstein, San Francisco Ballet, War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco
- Brian Jones and Susan Roemer, Wandering, Amy Seiwert’s Imagery, Cowell Theater, San Francisco
- Ian Winters, King Tide, Nina Haft & Company, Joe Goode Annex, San Francisco
Outstanding Achievement in Restaging / Revival / Reconstruction
- Krissy Keefer, revival of The Great Liberation Upon Hearing (2009), Dance Brigade, Dance Mission Theater, San Francisco
- Diane Madden, restaging of Locus Solo (1975)/Ten Artists Respond to Locus, Hope Mohr Dance, YBCA Forum, San Francisco
- Patrick Makuakane, revival of The Natives Are Restless (1998), N? Lei Hulu I Ka W?kiu, Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco
- Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and Chorale, restaging of Le Temple de La Gloire (The Temple of Glory) (1745) by Jean-Philippe Rameau, Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley
- Erin Mei-Ling Stuart, revival of Monkey Gone to Heaven (redux) (2013), EmSpace Dance, Ashby Stage, Berkeley
- Richard Tanner, revival of The Prodigal Son (1929), San Francisco Ballet, War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco
Special Award Honorees
- Antoine Hunter, for the 2017 Bay Area International Deaf Dance Festival, which united exceptional deaf and hearing dancers and increased their visibility in the Bay Area
Sustained Achievement Honorees
- La Tania, for her mastery and fostering of flamenco in the Bay Area as a teacher, choreographer, and performer for the past 24 years
- RJ Muna, for his artistic contributions to the community that capture the choreographers and dancers of the Bay Area through photographic excellence
- Harry Rubeck, for over 20 years of outstanding contributions supporting Bay Area dance artists through the field of lighting design
This article appeared in the January/February 2018 edition of In Dance.
