Kennedy Center Cites Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward : Arts: Lionel Hampton, Ginger Rogers, Mstislav Rostropovich and Paul Taylor will also be honored.

Lionel Hampton, Ginger Rogers, Mstislav Rostropovich, Paul Taylor, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward will receive this year’s Kennedy Center Honors, it was announced Thursday.

Selected by the trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for their contributions to cultural life in America, they will be guests of President Bush at the White House and will attend a televised performance at the Kennedy Center in December.

“We honor a musician (vibraphonist Hampton) who transformed the sound of jazz,” said Kennedy Center Chairman James D. Wolfensohn, “a couple (actors Woodward and Newman) who separately and together have created some of America’s most powerful films; an award-winning actress (Rogers) who triumphed in musicals, comedies and dramas; an undisputed genius among performing musicians (cellist Rostropovich), and a choreographer (Taylor) who has been a dominant factor in modern dance for the last quarter of a century.”

The Kennedy Center Honors were created in 1978 by George Stevens Jr., son of film director George Stevens, along with Broadway producers Roger Stevens and the late Nick Vanoff. They wanted a way to honor American artists, said Tiki Davies, a spokesman for the Kennedy Center. “There is no such thing as a knighthood in this country or a way to say these people have affected the souls of the people,” Davies said.

Winners have run the gamut of arts in America, from country singer Roy Acuff to popular singers such as Frank Sinatra and Perry Como. Other past recipients have included actors Henry Fonda and James Stewart, composers Leonard Bernstein and Aaron Copeland, movie director Billy Wilder and playwrights Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller.

“I wondered why they didn’t include me in there (previously),” the 81-year-old Ginger Rogers said from her home in Rancho Mirage. Her late dance partner Fred Astaire was awarded the Kennedy Honor in 1978. They performed in 11 hit musicals together.

“I did the same dances he did, except the solo performances.” But Rogers said that the award hasn’t lost its meaning for her. “I am so excited about it. I feel like one of the Disney characters that is shot to the sky.”

Contacted at his home on Long Island, N.Y., choreographer Paul Taylor said, “The sole reason I accept the award is for the field in general. I do it for the sake of dance.”

Taylor, 62, has choreographed more than 90 dances for his own company, which is known for its athletic and vigorous productions. Among his most famous works are “Esplanade” performed in 1975 and “Arden Court” performed in 1981. His recent work “Company B,” based on Andrews Sisters’ songs, appeared here in the spring.

Mstislav Rostropovich, who is traveling in Italy now, is a renowned cellist and conductor. Born in the former Soviet Union in 1927, he has fought for human rights and was stripped of his Soviet citizenship in 1974.

Lionel Hampton, 84, was one of the first to play jazz vibraphone with Louis Armstrong in the 1920s with the tune “Memories of You.” His most famous song is “Flying Home,” which he recorded in the early ‘40s. Soon after, he played with the Benny Goodman quartet. There is a Lionel Hampton School of Music in Moscow, Ida.

“This award is a biggie,” Hampton said in a telephone interview from Atlanta. “It doesn’t come to everyone. It means people have been following your reputation and progress.” Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward are being honored as a movie acting team for their films over the past 39 years. The only other acting team honored was Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy in 1986.

Participants in the December performance will not be announced in advance so that the honorees may be surprised. In 1979, for example, the Naval Academy choir sang to Henry Fonda. “Thank you, Mr. Roberts,” each choir member said, in reference to “Mr. Roberts,” Fonda’s noted Broadway and movie success.