CMU alum receives New York Dance and Performance Award

Zach Morris, Kris Bauman, Tara O'Con, Marissa Nielsen-Pincus, Jennine Willett, Tom Pearson; photo by Eva Yaa Asantewaa

We are thrilled to announce that choreographers Tom Pearson and Zach Morris and composer Kris Bauman are the recipients of 2008 New York Dance and Performance (Bessie) Awards for their latest work Vanishing Point at Danspace Project. For those of you unfamiliar with the Bessies, Roslyn Sulcas writes in yesterday's New York Times:

“The Bessies — more formally known as the New York Dance and Performance Awards — are often described as the dance world’s equivalent of the Oscars. They’re without the golden statuettes, the lucrative movie deals and Vanity Fair covers, to be sure, but nonetheless indubitable signs of recognition.” (Read more...)

This is a tremendous honor for all of us. Vanishing Point was truly a collaborative work made possible by the talents, dedication, and support of Third Rail’s amazing group of artists, staff, and supporters. 

Bessies Co-Host Katie Workum and Kris Bauman; photo by Eva Yaa Asantewaa

For creating music infused with charm and playfulness, that helped bring characters and stories from rural America to life with his band, The Dang-It Bobbys, in Tom Pearson and Zach Morris'“Vanishing Point,” presented at Danspace Project.

Zach Morris and Tom Pearson accepting their award with the cast; photo by Eva Yaa Asantewaa

For creating a work suffused in memory and remembrance, at once universal yet quintessentially American, informed by love, wisdom, and humor, and expressed in luscious movement and music by virtuosic performers in “Vanishing Point,” presented at Danspace Project.