A crowd of teenage dancers opened the New York Dance and Performance Awards, better known as the Bessies, on Friday night at Lincoln Center’s Damrosch Park in Manhattan. Set to the backdrop of Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way,” the dancers, from the Brooklyn-based group Dance Variations, bounced, jumped and carved through the aisles through the crowd before taking the stage. Weapons were thrown into the air; elbows flung side to side; bodies trembled in joyous celebration.
The pop duo the Illustrious Blacks — choreographer and performance artist Monstah Black and DJ and producer Manchildblack — hosted the annual ceremony, which honors dancers, choreographers and performers. The hosts wore matching white blouses, thick black-rimmed glasses, leather culottes and futuristic, shiny berets.
After the Illustrious Blacks led a call-and-response affirmations for the audience to thank their teachers and neighbors, the tone turned somber when they asked for a moment of recognition in honor of O’Shae Sibley, the 28-year-old dancer was killed last week in Brooklyn after voguing at a gas station.
“How is it possible that in 2023 someone was brutally murdered for dancing?” Manchildblack said.
Many of the presenters pursued urgent calls for LGBTQ rights and the importance of self-expression when they announced the nominees. There were four winners honored in each of two main categories: outstanding performer and outstanding choreographer/creator.
The performer awards went J. Bowey, who use the pronouns they/them, for their role in “A Message from Mx. Black Copper”; Amanda Castro for her performance in “Ayodele Casel: Chasing Magic”; Joyce Edwards for her dancing in “Grace, The Equality of Night and Day and Open Door”; and Albert Silindokuhle Ibokwe Khoza for his presentation on “And see … our glorious blue sky and eternal sun … can only be eaten by the slice …”
“A choreographer told me you are not a dancer, but I hold it in my hands now,” Khoza said in his acceptance speech.
Choreographer/creator winners are LaTasha Barnes for “The Jazz Continuum”; Dormeshia for “Rhythm Is Life,” Benjamin Akio Kimitch for “Tiger Hands” and Omari Wiles for “New York Is Burning.”
“I’m going to be very honest, this is very unexpected,” Dormeshia said upon accepting her award. “My goal is to make art that stays true to the integrity of the art form so I thank you for recognizing that.”
Dancer, singer and actor Dionne Figgins presented the 2023 Lifetime Achievement in Dance award to trailblazing ballet dancer and choreographer Virginia Johnson, who helped revive the Dance Theater of Harlem and resigned from the company this year.
