The Fred
and Adele Astaire Awards
will once again recognize excellence in
dance on both stage and film. This year�s
Awards gala will take place June 7, 2010 at
the Gerald Lynch Theater at John Jay
College, 899 Tenth Avenue (between 58th
and 59th Streets) New York City
10019. The gala evening will begin with a
VIP cocktail reception at 6pm with the
Awards Presentation and Show at 7:30 pm.
This year�s awards will benefit Career
Transitions for Dancers; now celebrating 25
years of helping thousands of dancers across
the country take their first steps towards a
rewarding post-performance career.
Patricia
Watt,
Producer of the awards, Ava Astaire
and The Douglas Watt Family Fund for the
Performing Arts have announced this
year�s Nominating Committee who will select
nominees from the best of Broadway and film
performances and choreography this season.
Ms. Watt also announced that this year's
Douglas Watt Lifetime Achievement Award will
be presented to legendary director and
choreographer, Kenny Ortega. The
award is named for the esteemed late critic
Douglas Watt who founded the Awards.
In
addition to the star-studded awards, the
evening�s highlights will include a number
of special performances including singer
Robin Cofer; Ronald K. Brown's
acclaimed Evidence Dance Company performing
a number to commemorate their 25th
Anniversary; a special tribute to Kenny
Ortega and Tony Award nominated actor,
director and choreographer Lee Roy Reams
performing with the ladies who once danced
with Mr. Astaire.
The evening
is directed by Lee Roy Reams and
produced by Patricia Watt and.
Co-producer is Ron Glucksman.
Associate producer is Bronwen Carson.
Special
honoree Kenny Ortega�s work as a
director, choreographer and producer is
known and loved by millions around the
world. Ortega has been the recipient of
three Emmy Awards, back to back nominations
and a DGA Award from the Director's Guild of
America, Imagen Creative Achievement Award,
an American Choreography Lifetime
Achievement Award, MTV Video Music Award,
ALMA Award, Nosotros Golden Eagle Award, Bob
Fosse Award, as well as a number of others.
For over
two decades, Ortega was Michael
Jackson's director and creative
partner. He directed both the "Dangerous"
and "HIStory" world tours in the 1990�s and
numerous videos and shows for Jackson. Their creative partnership came to an
abrupt end as they were working together on
what was to be their greatest effort to
date.
Jackson�s
untimely death, just as he was to embark on
an unprecedented 50 sold-out concerts
engagement at London's O2 Arena, brought the production and
the world to a stunned halt. Left with over
100 hours of rehearsal footage, Ortega along
with his close collaborators, musical
director Michael Bearden and choreographer
Travis Payne, assembled a two-hour
feature film celebrating Jackson's talent
that shows his fans what he was working on
at the time of his passing. "Michael
Jackson's This Is It," released on October
28, 2009 by Sony Pictures received an
overwhelmingly positive response worldwide
and has grossed over $250 million to date.
A Redwood City, California native, Ortega began his career at
age 13
performing
in area plays until eventually landing a
leading role in the original San Francisco touring
production of "Hair." In 1983, he directed
and choreographed "Marilyn, An American
Fable". Later in the �80s, he became known
for his stage direction and choreography of
the A&M recording artists, The Tubes. It was
a Tubes performance in
Los Angeles that caught the
attention of Cher
who asked Ortega to choreograph her
television special. Soon, Ortega became the
most sought after choreographer for the
industry's biggest musical artists including
Barbra Streisand, Michael Jackson,
Madonna, Gloria Estefan, Elton John, Rod
Stewart, Bette Midler and The Pointer
Sisters, to name a few.
When Ortega
made the transition from stage choreography
to film
Choreography, he had the honor of working
with the legendary Gene Kelly on the
feature film "Xanadu" and then again on
Francis Ford Coppola's "One From
the Heart". Kelly soon became Ortega's
mentor and taught him the art of designing
choreography for the camera. Ortega�s film
choreography includes "Dirty Dancing,"
"Ferris Bueller's Day Off," "Pretty in Pink"
and "St. Elmo's Fire", as well as, many
others.
Ortega
directed Disney Channel's "High School
Musical" and "High School Musical 2" which
were both the most successful Disney Channel
Original Movies to date when they premiered.
"High School Musical 2" drew over 17 million
viewers when it premiered making it the most
watched program in cable telecast history
(and still is). "High School Musical" 1 and
2 have been seen by over 250 million people
worldwide and both movies have broken
numerous sales records for their soundtracks
and DVDs.
Always one
of the most glamorous and eagerly
anticipated events on the theatrical
calendar, the Awards have paid homage to the
brightest lights in the world of dance:
Previous winners
of awards for dance performance include:
Debbie Allen, Hinton Battle, Charlotte
D'Amboise, Savion Glover, Gregory Hines,
Natalia Makarova, Donna McKechnie, Ann
Miller, Bebe Neuwirth, Ann Reinking and
Chita Rivera.
Previous winners of awards for choreography
are such legends as George Balanchine,
Michael Bennett, Patricia Birch, Wayne
Cilento, Graciela Daniele, Bob Fosse,
Peter Martins, Ann Reinking, Jerome Robbins,
Susan Stroman and two time winner
Tommy Tune.
The
Nominating Committee
for the 2010 Fred and Adele Astaire Awards
is comprised of: Anna Kisselgoff,
former Chief Dance Critic, New York Times;
Wendy Perron, Editor in Chief of
Dance Magazine, Sylviane Gold,
freelance dance columnist for Dance
Magazine, The New York Times, Newsday and
Damian Woetzel, former lead dancer of
the New York City Ballet, Artistic Director
of The Vail Institute.
The
Nominating Committee for the Fred and Adele
Astaire Awards is currently reviewing select
shows and films for consideration for the
awards to dancers and choreographers
representing the best of Broadway and film
performances and choreography this season.
The name of the awards first presented 26
years ago, The Astaire Award, was changed to
reflect the original intent of the awards
creators in honoring the famed brother and
sister team. This will be the first such
awards in three years. The award nominations
will be announced on May 3 at Elaine's
Restaurant in
New York.
The Fred
and Adele Astaire Awards (formerly known as
The Astaire Awards established in 1982 by
the Anglo-American Contemporary Dance
Foundation and administered by Theatre
Development Fund since 1991) recognize
outstanding achievement in dance on Broadway
each season. The award was established with
the cooperation of Fred Astaire to honor him
and his sister, Adele, who starred with her
brother in 10 Broadway musicals between 1917
and 1931.
The Awards
were expanded to include dance in and
choreography for film as this was the métier
that brought Fred Astaire to international
fame and a permanent slot on every list of
the top movie stars of the century.
Honorary
Chairs for the Awards Gala are Roberta
Flack, The Countess Luann DeLesseps,
and Bruce Michael; Co-chairs
are Robin Cofer, Carolyn Kendall
Buchter, Sara Johnson, Joe
Lanteri and Cassandra
Seidenfeld-Lyster.
The
Honorary Committee includes: Mr. & Mrs.
Richard Adler, Jean Claude Baker, Bob
Balaban, Marisa Berenson, Patricia Birch,
Arlene Dahl, Jacques D�Amboise, Gracielle
Danielle, Eve Ensler, Jules Fisher, Mario
Fratti, Mitzi Gaynor, Savion Glover, Joel
Grey, Richard Kornberg, Anne Jackson, Arthur
Laurents, Sondra Lee, Rob Marshall, Donna
McKechnie, Joey McKneely, Bebe Neuwirth,
Phyllis Newman, Marsha Norman, Robert
Osborne, Jane Powell and Dick Moore,
Harold Prince, Rex Reed, Ann Reinking,
Donald Saddler, Liz Smith, Joe and Elis
Stein, Richard Thomas, Karen Ziemba and Eli
Wallach.
Benefit Committee includes:
Susan Agrest, Jennifer Bank, Clare Beresford
Polster, Marysia Botkier, Susan Burnside,
Sharon Bush, Nicholas Dalton, Dora Frost,
Marianne Gaetti, Sara Herbert-Galloway,
Terri Gold, Dhonna Goodale, Magda Katz,
Dyann Klein, Regina Kravitz, Melanie La
Patin, Caroline Lieberman, Jacqueline Marks,
Kari Matz, Alix Michel, Stephanie Moriarity,
Elina Nulman, Nancy Pearson, Caryn Picker,
Scarlett Pildes, Rommy Revson, Paula Roman,
Kat Schaffer, Beverly Silver, Arlene Sterne,
Rae Stone, Jennifer Taylor
and
Andrew Wargo.
The evening
begins with a VIP reception at 6pm; Awards &
Show at 7:30pm
An after
Party with the winner and nominees follows
at 9pm.
VIP tickets
$300 ($250 before April 30th) includes pre
and post parties.
2nd
level-$150-for 7:30 performance;
3rd Level-$75-for 7:30 performance.
For tickets
and information, contact Patricia Watt,
Executive Producer,
212-595-0925 and
Patricia_Watt@msn.com.
Proceeds
from the evening will benefit Career
Transition for Dancers (CTFD). Celebrating
its Silver Anniversary, Career Transition
for Dancers (CTFD) has worked to enable
dancers to define their career possibilities
and develop skills necessary to excel in a
variety of disciplines for 25 years. With
offices in New York,
Los Angeles, Chicago, and a mobile
National Outreach Project, the organization
has provided over 43,000 hours of individual
and group counseling, with over $3.7 million
in educational and entrepreneurial grants.
Outside of the organization's 4,300 active
clients, the organization has helped
thousands of dancers in 47 states take their
first steps towards discovering rewarding
post-performance careers. To learn more
about the organization go to
www.careertransition.org