Skip to main content

The 2020 Bessie Nominations

Outstanding Production:

Kimberly Bartosik
through the mirror of their eyes
New York Live Arts

Monica Bill Barnes and Robert Saenz de Viteri
Days Go By
Brookfield Place New York

Brother(hood) Dance!
Afro/Solo/Man
Gibney

Ayodele Casel and Arturo O’Farrill
Ayodele Casel + Arturo O’Farrill
The Joyce Theater

a canary torsi/Yanira Castro
Last Audience
New York Live Arts

Yoshiko Chuma
My Diary: Secret Journey to Tipping Utopia
The Invisible Dog

Colin Dunne in collaboration with Sinéad Rushe and Mel Mericer
Concert
Baryshnikov Arts Center

Gregory Vuyani Maqoma
Cion: Requiem of Ravel’s Bolero
The Joyce Theater

Annie-B Parson
David Byrne’s American Utopia
Hudson Theatre

jumatatu m. poe and Jermone “Donte” Beacham
Let ‘im Move You: This is a Formation
Abrons Art Center

Amanda Szeglowski
this is now, and now, and now.
JACK

Outstanding Revival:

BUSK
By Aszure Barton
Performed by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
New York City Center

Colored
By Kyle Marshall
BAM Fisher

From The Horse’s Mouth, various works
By Tina Croll &  Jamie Cunningham/From the Horse’s Mouth honoring the 75th anniversary of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division
At the Theater at the 14th Street Y

Monuments: Echoes in the Dance Archive
By Adam Weinert
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts

Outstanding Music Composition / Sound Design Nominees

Quran Karriem
Soundz at the Back of My Head by Thomas F. DeFrantz/Slippage
Gibney 

Nhlanhla Mahlangu and Ntuthuko Mbuyazi
Cion: Requiem of Ravel’s Bolero by Gregory Maqoma/Vuyani Dance Theater
The Joyce Theater

Stephan Moore
Last Audience by a canary torsi/Yanira Castro
New York Live Arts

Nioka Workman, nia love, and Antoine Roney
g1(host):lostatsea by nia love
Gibney 

Outstanding Performer:

Oluwadamilare Ayorinde
A.D. & Colored by Kyle Marshall
BAM Fisher

Grupo de Rua
Inoah by Bruno Beltraõ/Grupo de Rua
Brooklyn Academy of Music

Burr Johnson
through the mirror of their eyes by Kimberly Bartosik
New York Live Arts

Wataru Kitao
The Unknown Dancer in the Neighborhood by Suguru Yamamoto
The Public Theater’s Under the Radar Festival 2020
Japan Society

Huwer Anthony Marche Jr. “King Havoc”
LayeRhythm Jam
Nublu

Shannon Nash
Community Exercises for Sanctuary Spaces by Brendan Drake
The Brick

Emily Pope
My Diary: Secret Journey to Tipping Utopia by Yoshiko Chuma
The Invisible Dog

Annique Roberts
For Sustained Achievement in the work of Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE

Myssi Robinson
For Body of Work with Kyle Marshall

Bijayini Satpathy
Kalpana – the world of Imagination by Kelucharan Mohapatra and Surupa Sen
A.R.T. New York Theatre
Drive East Festival

Hu Shenyuan
Under Siege by Yang Liping Contemporary Dance
David H. Koch Theater

Omari Wiles
Odeon by Ephrat Asherie
The Joyce Theater

Outstanding NY Dance and Performance Award for Outstanding “Breakout” Choreographer 

Gemma Bond

Tess Dworman

It’s Showtime NYC

Gabrielle Revlock

Outstanding Visual Design:

Liam O’Brien & Kelly Hanson (Costume and Scenic Design), Mary Ellen Stebbins and Jane Cox (Lighting Design)
Days Go By by Monica Bill Barnes and Robert Saenz de Viteri
Brookfield Place New York

Peter Born (Set and Lighting Design)
Sitting on a Man’s Head by Okwui Okpokwasili and Peter Born
Danspace Project

Ricarrdo Valentine and Orlando Zane Hunter (Video)
Afro/Solo/Man by Brother(hood) Dance!
Gibney

Tim Yip (Visual Director and Set) and Beili Liu (Installation)
Under Siege by Yang Liping Contemporary Dance
David H. Koch Theater

Photo credits on this page (left to right):
Tess Dworman, photo by Brian Rogers; Monica Bill Barnes by David Wilson Barnes; Burr Johnson by Ryutaro Mishima; Brother(hood) Dance by Scott Shaw


Digital photos are available on request.
Follow the Bessies on Facebook / #theBessies / @bessieawards