A.W.A.R.D. Show! Builds Audiences and Funds Dance

(1-13-2011) Susan Josephs for the Los Angeles Times:

Since launching the controversial yet successful dance event in 2005, Israeli-born choreographer [Neta Pulvermacher] has watched her brainchild grow from a New York City happening into a national franchise produced by the Joyce Theater Foundation with support from The Boeing Company.

Coming to REDCAT Thursday through Sunday, "The A.W.A.R.D. Show!" (an acronym for Artists With Audiences Responding to Dance) channels the zeitgeist as defined by the Fox TV show "So You Think You Can Dance" and other competitive arenas where performing artists duke it out for fame and fortune. Specifically tailored for contemporary choreographers, the show-cum-contest grants $10,000 to a winner toward the creation of a new work and has stirred up some lively debates about the financing and subjectivity of evaluating the often underfunded medium of contemporary concert dance.

Read the complete story here.