See Chicago Dance, the dance industry's nonprofit service organization, and its Executive Director Julia Mayer, announced the recipients of two awards given annually by See Chicago Dance this past Saturday, May 29th at Navy Pier during See Chicago Dance’s launch event for the Ninth Annual Chicago Dance Month. These awards will be given to the recipients at See Chicago Dance’s annual fundraiser and community celebration in September.
The See Chicago Dance 2021 Legacy Award, which is awarded to an artistic leader who has enriched their community and made a significant and sustained impact on dance in Chicago, will be awarded to Hema Rajagopalan, artistic director of Natya Dance Theatre. Randy Duncan will receive the Distinguished Service to the Dance Field Award, which is awarded to those that make vital contributions to the health and vibrancy of the Chicago Dance sector.
The Navy Pier launch event begins June’s Chicago Dance Month, a month-long celebration honoring the artists and companies that are eager to get back in front of audiences. Chicago Dance Month is pleased to highlight a full slate of live and virtual performances, classes and more from Chicago’s dance community. More information on See Chicago Dance-sponsored and additional dance company virtual and in-person events is available at SeeChicagoDance.com/dancemonth.
“It’s a See Chicago Dance tradition to kick-off Chicago Dance Month with the announcement of the year’s honorees. This year we acknowledge the dedication, vision and influence Hema Rajagopalan has had on generations of students and audience members with the Legacy Award. She is truly the Grand Dame of Indian dance in the Chicago area,” said See Chicago Dance’s Executive Director Julia Mayer. “This year’s recipient of the Distinguished Service to the Dance Field Award is Randy Duncan, an independent choreographer with a national reach; former company director and still-keeper of the flame for the work of the legendary Joseph Holmes; Chicago Dancers United founding member and choreographer for Dance for Life for over two decades; teacher and now department chair at Chicago Academy for the Arts, influencing the dancing lives of hundreds of high school students. If that isn’t ‘service to the field,’ I don’t know what is!”
ABOUT HEMA RAJAGOPALAN, 2021 LEGACY AWARD RECIPIENT
Hema Rajagopalan is the founder and artistic director of Natya Dance Theatre, founded in 1975, specializing in Bharatanatyam, the dance theater of India. She is a dancer, teacher and choreographer of international repute, committed to preserving and developing the art in new directions for diverse audiences. Rajagopalan has performed as a soloist at prestigious venues worldwide receiving critical acclaim. Noteworthy among them are the Edinburgh Festival UK, Avignon Festival France, The Kennedy Center and in India in most major venues including The Music Academy, Krishna Gana Sabha, Bharat Kalachar amongst others.
Among the many noteworthy awards she has received are an Emmy Award and seven National Endowment for the Arts choreography awards in the United States and the Vishwa Kala Bharathy, a national award for artistic excellence in India.
ABOUT RANDY DUNCAN, 2021 DISTINGUISHED SERVICE TO THE DANCE FIELD AWARD RECIPIENT
Randy Duncan, a native of Chicago, who began his dance training with Ms. Geraldine Johnson and credits much of his artistic development with Harriet Ross, has the unique privilege to be a three-time recipient of Chicago’s prestigious Ruth Page Award for Outstanding Choreographer of the year. He has received numerous other awards including the Artistic Achievement Award from the Chicago National Association of Dance Masters, three Black Theatre Alliance Awards and the Gay Chicago Magazine After Dark Award. He earned an American Choreography Award Nomination for his choreography in the blockbuster movie Save the Last Dance, starring Julia Stiles. Mr. Duncan’s work has been seen in the companies of Joffrey Ballet, Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago, Ballet Met and many others. He has created choreography for such theatres as the Goodman and Court Theatre in Chicago and nationally for the Manhattan Theatre Club, South Coast Repertory, Actors Theatre in Louisville, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Washington Shakespeare Theatre and Portland Opera. Most recently, Duncan’s work can be seen in season four of Showtime’s “THE CHI.” For the past 28 years, he has been on the faculty of The Chicago Academy for the Arts, where he now serves as dance department chair and received the 2019 Faculty Legacy Award. He has been choreographing the finale for Chicago’s annual Dance for Life gala since 1994 and has received the 2013 AIDS Foundation Chicago Civic Leadership Award for his work with Dance for Life.
ABOUT JULIA MAYER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, SEE CHICAGO DANCE
Julia Mayer became See Chicago Dance’s executive director in August 2020. Mayer has been involved in and influencing Chicago’s cultural scene in a variety of capacities for more than 20 years, having worked at 3Arts Inc., The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, Chicago Humanities Festival, Morrison-Shearer Foundation and Museums In the Park. In addition, she has chaired and served on numerous committees from Links Hall to Chicago Dancemakers Forum to the Chicago Park District. For more than two decades, Mayer has been a choreographer, teacher or consultant at Columbia College, University of Chicago and in Indiana at Valparaiso University and Saint Mary’s College. She has a master’s degree in Fine Arts in Dance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a bachelor’s degree in Linguistics from the University of Chicago.
ABOUT SEE CHICAGO DANCE
See Chicago Dance is a nonprofit service organization with the mission to advocate for the dance field and strengthen a diverse range of dance organizations and artists through services and programs that build and engage audiences. Its vision is to fearlessly inspire an ever-growing inclusive community to share in and spread the power of dance in Chicago.
See Chicago Dance is the source for all things dance with the city’s most comprehensive resource for dance information and one of the largest websites in the United States dedicated to the art form. Its two-pronged approach focuses on building audiences while developing a more cohesive dance community.
For audience members, See Chicago Dance offers a dynamic calendar of dance performances and experiences, Hot Deal ticket discounts, professionally written reviews and previews and listings for more than 200 dance organizations.
For dance artists and organizations, See Chicago Dance provides a full range of Programs and Industry Resources to help build audiences, improve skills and foster appreciation of dance.
The Distinguished Service to the Dance Field Award is underwritten by The Richard H. Driehaus Charitable Lead Trust.
The Legacy Award is underwritten by Pamela Crutchfield.
(L to R) Randy Duncan, the recipient of Distinguished Service to the Dance Field Award from See Chicago Dance and See Chicago Dance Executive Director Julia Mayer at the May 29 launch of Chicago Dance Month at Navy Pier. Photo by Michelle Reid - MReidPhotog.com
Juan Carlos Castellon, principal dancer and Amanda Saucedo, company dancer of Ensemble Español Spanish Dance Theater perform at the May 29 launch of Chicago Dance Month at Navy Pier. Photo by Michelle Reid - MReidPhotog.com
Damon Green of The Seldoms perform at the May 29 launch of Chicago Dance Month at Navy Pier. Photo by Michelle Reid - MReidPhotog.com
Chloe Jensen of Aerial Dance Chicago performs at the May 29 launch of Chicago Dance Month at Navy Pier. Photo by Michelle Reid - MReidPhotog.com
(kneeling in front) Rebekah Kuczma and (standing arabesque) Briana Arthur of Deeply Rooted Dance Theater perform at the May 29 launch of Chicago Dance Month at Navy Pier. Photo by Michelle Reid - MReidPhotog.com
(L to R) Ashwaty Chennat and Misha Talapatra of Mandala Arts perform at the May 29 launch of Chicago Dance Month at Navy Pier. Photo by Michelle Reid - MReidPhotog.com