The Dance/USA Honor, Ernie, and Trustees awards recognize an individual’s contributions to dance in America and acknowledges the roles she/he plays in the national dance community. Presented by the Dance/USA Board of Trustees, theses awards are presented to outstanding members of the national dance community.
Nominations for Dance/USA's Honor and Ernie awards are accepted from the entire membership, and the final selection is made by the Dance/USA Board of Trustees. The awards are presented at the Honors Celebration during the Dance/USA Annual Conference.
Dance/USA Honor
The Honor goes to an individual who has demonstrated extraordinary leadership in the dance field by reason of artistic excellence and/or force of vision.
1986 Anthony Tudor and Martha Graham
1988 Robert Joffrey and Merce Cunningham
1990 Agnes de Mille, Paul Taylor and Alvin Ailey
1992 Katherine Dunham and Bella Lewitzky
1994 Alexandra Danilova and Charles Reinhart
1996 William Christensen and Donald McKayle
1998 Judith Jamison and Bruce Marks
2000 Jeraldyne Blunden and David R. White
2002 Chuck Davis
2004 Arthur Mitchell
2006 Anna Halprin
2008 Frederic Franklin
2009 Tina Ramirez
2010 Carmen De Lavallade
2011 Lar Lubovitch
2012 Helgi Tomasson
2013 Joan Myers Brown
Dance/USA ‘Ernie’
The Ernie goes to an individual working “behind the scenes” within the infrastructure of the dance field, whose achievements have significantly empowered artists and supported their creativity individually or as a community.
1990 Ian ‘Ernie’ Horvath
1992 Richard E. LeBlond Jr.
1994 Martha Hill Davis and Bessie Schoenberg
1996 Barbara Horgan and Ivan Sygoda
1998 Deborah Jowitt
2000 Norton Owen and John R. Killacky
2002 Cora Cahan
2004 Sage Cowles
2006 Madeleine Nichols
2008 Anna Kisselgoff
2009 Sali Ann Kriegsman
2010 Richard J. Caples
2011 Verdery Roosevelt
2012 Sam Miller
2013 Barbara Weisberger
Dance/USA Trustees Award
The Trustees Award is given at the discretion of the Dance/USA Board of Trustees to recognize an outstanding professional whose work has special significance to the field.
2004 Alan M. Kriegsman
2007 Dr. Richard Gibbs
2008 Rena Shagan
2011 Andrea Snyder
2012 C.C. Conner, Jr.
2013 Sharon Gersten Luckman
Dance/USA Champion Award
The Champion Award is given to any organization, business, foundation, or individual in the Annual Conference host city whose achievements, leadership, and support have sustained and/or significantly advanced dance in their home community.
2010 The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation and the Meyer Foundation
2011 Pamela Crutchfield
2012 Chris & Warren Hellman and Kary Schulman
