Honoring the 2026 Posthumous Dance Magazine Award Recipients
Germaine Acogny, Ayodele Casel, Final Bow for Yellowface founders Phil Chan and Georgina Pazcoguin, Cleo Parker Robinson, and Alice Sheppard will be honored at the 2026 Dance Magazine Awards, dancemagazine.com reported.
The annual awards ceremony is scheduled for November 23 at 7 p.m. EST at The Ailey Citigroup Theater at The Joan Weill Center for Dance in New York City.
Ceremony Recognizes Behind-The-Scenes Leadership and Emerging Talent
Beyond the primary honorees, the ceremony recognizes behind-the-scenes leadership and emerging talent. Alicia Adams, formerly of the Kennedy Center, will receive the Lydia Joel Award, which honors behind-the-scenes dance leaders and is named after former Dance Magazine editor Lydia Joel. The Harkness Promise Awards, presented in collaboration with the Harkness Foundation for Dance to offer a grant and rehearsal space for innovative young choreographers, will go to Jasmine Hearn and Keerati Jinakunwiphat.
A tradition dating back to 1954, the Dance Magazine Awards also include posthumous honors for five artists who were not recognized by the awards committee during their lifetimes: Balasaraswati, Choo San Goh, Steve Paxton, Eleo Pomare, and Charles H. Williams, according to dancemagazine.com.
2026 Slate Spans Diverse Disciplines and Global Contributions
The 2026 slate spans diverse disciplines and global contributions to the art form. Germaine Acogny is a French-Senegalese dancer, choreographer, and teacher regarded as the mother of contemporary African dance. She served as artistic director of Mudra Afrique in Dakar from 1977 to 1982 and co-founded École des Sables with her husband, Helmut Vogt. Ayodele Casel is an internationally acclaimed tap dancer, choreographer, and writer whose credits include Broadway’s Funny Girl and the PBS ALL ARTS film Rooted. Cleo Parker Robinson directs her eponymous dance ensemble, and Alice Sheppard performs with Kinetic Light, advancing work in wheelchair dance.
The posthumous honorees represent foundational pillars across dance history. Choo San Goh became the first Asian choreographer to achieve global renown in ballet. Eleo Pomare documented marginalized communities and co-founded Dancemobile alongside projects and publications that brought dance to New York streets.
An evening of performances and tributes will mark the occasion for attendees in New York City on November 23.
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