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Re: Performing Arts
Posted:
Jul 25, 2005 9:12 AM
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The Minnesota Sage Awards
For more information contact: Stuart Pimsler SPDanTH@aol.com 763 521-7738 or Linda Shapiro Shapi018@umn.edu
What: First Annual Sage Awards for Dance When: Wednesday, October 5, 7 PM Where: Southern Theater, 1420 Washington Ave. South, Minneapolis Tickets: Open to the public. $5 donation recommended. Call 612-340-1725 For Immediate Release
July 1, 2005 The Minnesota Community will publicly celebrate its accomplishments with the first annual presentation of the Sage Awards, to be announced at a gala evening at the Southern Theater on Wednesday, October 5, 2005. The awards will recognize artists involved in performances over the past season. There will be five to ten awards for Outstanding Performance (including choreography); Outstanding Performer or Performers; Outstanding Design; a Special Citation to recognize contributions over time; and a People's Choice Award picked by the dance community at large. The Sage Awards recognize Sage Cowles, with heartfelt appreciation for all she has done for Minnesota Dance. Cowles herself, a choreographer, performer and philanthropist, recently received an Ernie Award from Dance USA at their national conference for her dance leadership in the Twin Cities and nationally.
The Sages are the brain-child of Stuart Pimsler who was inspired by a community-wide dance meeting called by the McKnight Foundation in the spring of 2004, a unique gathering of dancers, choreographers, dance teachers, dance presenters, arts administrators, arts writers and funders talking about the state of dance in Minnesota. Created in a series of open meetings with input from many dance artists, the awards will be a celebration of the Minnesota dance community, one of the most vital in the country. "The Sages will help to bring national attention to the high volume and caliber of dance activity in the Twin Cities, " says Pimsler, a nationally-known choreographer and director of Stuart Pimsler Dance & Theater who moved his company to Minneapolis four years ago.
The Sage Awards will recognize all manner of dance presentations from standard theater productions to musical theater and media forms including videography, as long as the maker is a resident of MN. The ad hoc committee for the Sage Awards consulted with David White, founder of the New York awards known as The Bessies, in helping develop the MN awards. The committee considered over 60 nominees for the Sage panel before choosing the 11 dancers, choreographers, writers, presenters, administrators and devoted audience members who have viewed work over the past year. At the Sage Awards celebration, the panel's picks and their identities will be revealed.
Patrick Scully and Laurie Van Wieren will be the masters of ceremonies for the gala Sage Awards, which will feature live performances, rare video footage, the awards, and an appearance by Sage Cowles.
The Sage Awards are made possible in part by funding from the McKnight foundation.
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