NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts hosts the 4th annual Chita Rivera Awards June 20 at 7:30 PM. Charlotte d'Amboise and Bianca Marroquín host the ceremony as previously announced.
Presenting at the awards will be Chita Rivera, Ben Vereen, Wayne Cilento, Desmond Richardson, Ashley Blair Fitzgerald, Dylis Croman, and Rachel Zatcoff. Performing at the ceremony will be hosts d'Amboise and Marroquín, Bebe Neuwirth, Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish, American Dance Machine for the 21st Century, the cast of STOMP, and dancers from the Pace University Commercial Dance BFA Program.
The Awards celebrate dance and recognize choreographic excellence and achievement in honor of their namesake, Tony winner Chita Rivera, who has originated some of Broadway's best known roles, such as Anita in West Side Story and Velma in Chicago. Tony, Academy, and Golden Globe winner Joel Grey is honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award this year.
This year's nominees for Outstanding Choreography in a Broadway Show include Camille A. Brown (for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf), Warren Carlyle (The Music Man), Bill T. Jones, Garrett Coleman, and Jason Oremus (Paradise Square), Annie-B Parson (American Utopia), Sonya Tayeh (Moulin Rouge), and Christopher Wheeldon (MJ, the Musical).
For Outstanding Male Dancer in a Broadway Show, nominees are Sidney DuPont (Paradise Square), Myles Frost (MJ, the Musical), Jared Grimes (Funny Girl), Hugh Jackman (The Music Man), AJ Shively (Paradise Square), and Tony Yazbeck (Flying Over Sunset).
Sutton Foster (The Music Man), Robyn Hurder (Moulin Rouge), Tendayi Kuumba (for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf), Heather Lang (Jagged Little Pill), and Adrienne Warren (Tina: The Tina Turner Musical) all earned nominations for Outstanding Female Dancer in a Broadway Show.
The ensembles of American Utopia, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf, MJ, the Musical, Moulin Rouge, Paradise Square, and The Music Man all earned a nod as well for Outstanding Ensemble in a Broadway Show.
Josh Prince (Trevor) is the sole nominee for Outstanding Choreography in an Off-Broadway Show, as is the ensemble of The Wrong Man for Outstanding Ensemble in an Off-Broadway Show.
Nominations were also announced for outstanding choreography in film.
The event is being produced by Patricia Watt and Joe Lanteri, founder and executive director of the New York City Dance Alliance Foundation, and benefits the NYC Dance Alliance Foundation College Scholarship Program. Since the organization’s founding in 2010, it has awarded $4 million to more than 400 dancers.
For more information, visit ChitaRiveraAwards.com.
