Lester Horton Dance Awards announced
The eclectic list of winners of this year’s Lester Horton Dance Awards, announced Sunday, included achievement-in-performance nods to Patrick Damon Rago for his evening-length piece “Manifold” and to Holly Johnston, choreographer and artistic director of the Ledges and Bones Dance Project, for “experiment one.”
The award for outstanding achievement in performance by a dance company went to break-dance veteran Jacob “Kujo” Lyons’ interdisciplinary dance and physical theater troupe Lux Aeterna for two works: “Underwater” -- which was indeed performed underwater -- and “Beached.”
The Hortons were created by the Dance Resource Center of Greater Los Angeles to honor excellence in concert dance in Southern California. The awards announced Sunday marked their 17th annual presentation.
For outstanding achievement in performance by a small ensemble, Andrea Brache and William Lu of the Orange County company Backhausdance were singled out for their precarious duet “Push.”
Choreographer Jennifer Backhaus also received an award for the piece, for short-form choreography, in a tie with Regina Klenjoski for “The Museum Project -- Triptych #2.”
Recipients of special awards were Meg Wolfe (the Lester Horton Dance Community Award), Grover Dale (lifetime achievement), Tim Alger (furthering the visibility of dance) and Rosanna Gamson (dance innovator).
In conjunction with the Hortons, former L.A. Times dance critic Lewis Segal received a certificate of congratulations from the office of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa for service to the dance community.
The other awards:
Choreography, long form: Keith Johnson, “Girl Falling Towards the Sky”
Production of a festival or series: Jamie Nichols, Celebrate Dance 2007
Costume design: Monica Favand Campagna, “Poisoning the Well”
Music for dance: Charlie Campagna, “Poisoning the Well”
Set design: Rogelio Lopez Garcia, “Girl Falling Towards the Sky”
Lighting design: Eileen Cooley and Monique L’Heureux, Celebrate Dance 2007
Revival, reconstruction, restaging: Keith Glassman, “Slip Knot”
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