Keefer, Turocy win Izzy
In a century-spanning tie, Krissy Keefer and Dance Brigade’s cuttingedge “The Great Liberation Upon Hearing” and Rameau’s 1745 operaballet “Le Temple de la Gloire,” reconstructed by the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale and Catherine Turocy, shared the award for outstanding revival at the 32nd annual Isadora Duncan Dance Awards.
Their parity perfectly illustrated the generation-, genre- and culture-inclusive work of the artists recognized at the Izzies ceremony and celebration on Monday, March 26, at Brava Theater Center in the Mission. The peer-juried awards recognized achievement during the dance season that ran from September 2016 through August 2017.
In the performance categories, Isaiah Bindel earned the individual nod for his solo in DawsondanceSF’s “Les Vérités,” while full-company performance honors went to Abhinaya Dance Company of San Jose for “Vaanara Leela: Monkeys in the Ramayana.”
MaryStarr Hope and Karla Quintero were the top ensemble for their duet in Flyaway Productions’ “Grace and Delia Are Gone,” an aerial dance about violence against women. Another site-specific work, Lizz Roman’s “Sunset Dances: Architectural Meditations II,” was cited for outstanding achievement in choreography.
Creative teams claimed the behind-thescenes awards: Marc Bamuthi Joseph and Tommy Shepherd’s “/peh-LO-tah/” for music/sound/text, and Brian Jones’ visual design and Susan Roemer’s costumes for “Wandering” by Amy Seiwert’s Imagery.
This year’s special award honoree was Antoine Hunter, who unites the deaf, hard of hearing and hearing dance communities via the Bay Area International Deaf Dance Festival.
The sustained achievement awards heralded flamenco artist and teacher La Tania, who retired from the stage in 2017; photographer RJ Muna; and Dance Mission’s resident lighting designer Harry Rubeck, whose credits include the Izzie-winning “The Great Liberation Upon Hearing.”
For more information go to http://www.izzies-sf.org.