Contact:
Angela Ramacci
aramacci@danceusa.org
(202) 833-1717 x13

Given biennially by Dance/USA’s Board of Trustees since 1986, the Honors recognizes outstanding lifetime contributions to dance. The “Ernie,” named for the late Ian “Ernie” Horvath, honors “unsung heroes” who have led exemplary lives in dance. Both recipients are confirmed to accept in person. We also announce the creation of a new “Trustees Award,” to honor significant and unique contributions to the field. Details of this presentation will be encompassed in a separate release.

The 2004 “Honors” recipient, Arthur Mitchell is known internationally as an accomplished artistic director, educator, choreographer, dancer, and founder of the Dance Theatre of Harlem. He has been a pivotal figure in the dance world for more than five decades. Upon graduation from New York City’s High School for the Performing Arts, the talented young dancer was offered a scholarship from the School of American Ballet. History was made in 1955 when Arthur Mitchell became the first African-American male dancer to become a permanent member of a major ballet company. He joined the New York City Ballet, debuting in the fourth movement of George Balanchine's Western Symphony. He quickly rose to the position of principal dancer with New York City Ballet. During his 15 years with the company, he electrified audiences with his performances in a broad spectrum of roles. Mitchell's career also included performances in film, television, nightclubs and Broadway. He was a popular guest artist at several venues domestically and abroad.

In 1968, upon learning of the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Mitchell was determined to provide children in Harlem with the kinds of opportunities that had been given to him. That summer, he began giving ballet classes to local children in a Harlem church basement. In 1969, with financial assistance from the Ford Foundation, Mitchell and Karel Shook, his teacher and mentor, founded and formally incorporated the Dance Theatre of Harlem as a school of the allied arts and professional ballet company. Now 31 years old, Dance Theatre of Harlem has grown into a multicultural institution of world renown, comprised of students and dancers from the United States and abroad. Among the many honors and awards conferred upon Mr. Mitchell are the 1997 Americans for the Arts Arts in Education Award; the 1987 National Medal of Arts, the highest honor awarded by the President of the United States in the arts and humanities; the coveted MacArthur Foundation Fellowship; and the 1994 Award for Distinguished Service to the Arts from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 1993, Mitchell became one of the youngest recipients of the Kennedy Center Honor, celebrating “an extraordinary lifetime of contributions to American culture through the performing arts.” That same year, Mayor David Dinkins presented Mitchell with the Handel Medallion, New York City's most prestigious award for artistic contribution. Mr. Mitchell has received honorary doctorate degrees from institutions nationwide, including Hamilton College, Brown University, City College of the City University of New York, Harvard University, the Juilliard School, the New School for Social Research, North Carolina School of the Arts and Williams College.

The recipient of Dance/USA’s 2004 “Ernie,” Sage Cowles’ long and varied career includes performing, choreographing, and teaching dance to non-dancers. She has collaborated with filmmaker Molly Davies on a series of six film performance pieces and toured extensively as a guest artist with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company in the celebrated Last Supper at Uncle Tom's Cabin/The Promised Land.

Born in Paris to American parents, Ms. Cowles received her early dance training under Louise Kloepper and Margaret H’Doubler in Madison, Wisconsin. She continued her studies at New York City’s School of American Ballet under the legendary Hanya Holm and Louis Horst. After earning a B.A. in Art History from the University of Wisconsin in 1947, Cowles joined the Wisconsin Dance Group. In 1951, the young dancer joined the original Broadway cast of Bless You All starring Pearl Bailey, Mary McCarty and Valerie Bettis. She also performed on the popular early television variety show, Lucky Strike Hit Parade. Between 1954 and 1968, Ms. Cowles danced with Nancy Hauser Contemporary Dance Company, the Joan Skinner Dance Company, and also co-directed Dancer’s Forum. Her collaborations with filmmaker Molly Davies begot six film works that were screened throughout the United States and Europe. Her other collaborations have included choreographing Suzanne Lacey’s Whisper’s Minnesota project, and of course her touring work with Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane & Company in the highly acclaimed Last Supper at Uncle Tom’s Cabin/The Promised Land throughout the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. A competitive race-walker holding the 1989 USA record for 5k and 10k for 64-year-old US women, Cowles has served on a number of Boards, including the Cunningham Dance Foundation, the former Minnesota Dance Alliance, Dance/USA, the Jerome Foundation, Planned Parenthood of Minneapolis, and the Minneapolis Mayor’s Commission on Human Relations. She also has served on panels for the National Endowment for the Arts Dance Program, the Jerome Foundation, and the Minnesota State Arts Board Dance Panel.

Mitchell will join a list of past Dance/USA Honors recipients that includes Martha Graham, Chuck Davis, Antony Tudor, Alvin Ailey, Robert Joffrey, Merce Cunningham, Paul Taylor, Katherine Dunham, Bella Lewitzky, Alexandra Danilova, Charles Reinhart, William Christensen, Danald McKayle, Bruce Marks, Judith Jamison, Jeraldyne Blunden and David R. White. Cowles will be among “Ernie” recipients including Richard LeBlond, Cora Cahan, Martha Hill Davies, Bessie Schonberg, Barbara Horgan, Ivan Sygoda, Deborah Jowitt, John Killacky and Norton Owen.

Each honoree will receive a work of art by sculptor Rita Blitt. The dancing lines of her sculpture and painting are a fitting tribute to Mitchell’s and Cowles’ contributions to the dance field. Both recipients will attend Dance/USA’s Roundtable 2004 and receive their recognition in person.

The 11th Biennial Dance/USA National Roundtable 2004 occurs June 10–11 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and is a unique event this year in a number of ways. The Roundtable is being held in conjunction with the first National Performing Arts Convention (June 9–12), which includes the simultaneous national conferences of Dance/USA, American Symphony Orchestra League, OPERA America, and Chorus America, as well as special meetings of numerous other major performing arts service organizations. The Convention, as well as several Dance/USA Roundtable activities, takes place at the architecturally exciting new David L. Lawrence Convention Center.

Dance/USA was founded in 1982 to advance the art form of dance through a variety of programs including publications, advocacy, research, professional development, public communications and re-granting initiatives. This year’s Roundtable marks the 22nd Anniversary of Dance/USA. For more information on Dance/USA or Roundtable 2004, contact Dance/USA: 1156 15th Street, NW, Suite 820, Washington, DC 20005; tel: (202) 833-1717; fax: (202) 833-2686; e-mail: danceusa@danceusa.org. For press passes to attend events at Roundtable 2004, contact Angela Ramacci, (202) 833-1717 x13, or aramacci@danceusa.org. To register as a member or non-member for Roundtable 2004, click here (PDF, 288k).

Dance/USA 2004 National Roundtable Champions