Diversity.

The gods of spring were with us on a warm, windy, sun-filled day in late April when the dance world--or as much of it as could be mustered on a Monday noon in New York City--gathered in front of the fountain at Lincoln Center for the official "kickoff" celebration for National Dance Week (NDW). There were about two thousand people present, and the Rockettes performed, as did dancers from Pilobolus, School of American Ballet, Ballet Hispanico, NYC Dance Alliance, The Lion King, and Dance Olympus. Sponsored this year by the United Dance Merchants of America, National Dance Week was reestablished to raise awareness of dance and its "contributions to our culture." Performances of a similar nature across the country drew further attention to these attainable goals. And early reports indicate that events as far afield as Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina, Illinois, Connecticut, and California have done just that.

A leader in promoting National Dance Week, Dance Magazine reported in 1942 that NDW had been celebrated "throughout the country" since 1933. Well, perhaps. These early attempts at marketing dance may have hit the target in their day, but the wheels really got rolling when Robert Stem, president of Dance Magazine, and Alfred Terlizzi, the late president of Capezio, jump-started NDW over lunch one day in the early 1980s. Three years ago the ball was passed to the merchants, and they have reinvigorated NDW with energy and purpose and snap.

Why is a nationwide, week-long celebration of dance so important? One reason is that we need to get the word out about the cultural necessity and vitality of the arts in America. A concentration of dance activity increases visibility and sends a positive message that the work we are doing in dance--as students, teachers, performers, directors, administrators, designers, journalists, musicians, historians, and so on and on--is vital to the well-being of America. The arts are at the very heart of a nation's sense of purpose, but they have been subjected in the past decade to self-promoting attacks from conservative politicians. Unexpectedly, the arts have proven more resilient and adaptable than detractors imagined. New directions are being taken. People need to know that.

One of the things that we're doing at Dance Magazine is coordinating with NDW our annual Awards, which have been given since 1954 to men and women who have made lasting contributions to the field. The international attention that the Awards draw every year will be shared with NDW by honoring exemplary accomplishments--exactly what NDW celebrates.

We can succeed if we act together as the family-in-spirit that the dance world can and should be. There is still an unfortunate tendency to territorialize dance, but none of us is served particularly well when we hang on to our archaic divisions and academic prejudices. There is great strength in our diversity. We empower ourselves by acting together as a family. These two ideas recurred repeatedly at the Dance Magazine Awards presentation in New York City on April 20.

Accepting the Award for Dame Ninette de Valois, who at one hundred could not travel to New York from London, American Ballet Theatre ballet mistress Georgina Parkinson told a story about the notoriously shy founder of the Royal Ballet. "After one of her premieres at Covent Garden, she made one of the shortest curtain speeches ever: `Ladies and Gentlemen,' de Valois said, `It takes more than one person to make a balled' And then she sat down." De Valois's impact on the evolution of twentieth-century dance is colossal, and an interesting "what if" exercise is to speculate "what if" she had never started the Royal. Would ballet as we know it exist? Presenter Betty Oliphant, who worked with Dame Ninette while establishing the National Ballet School in Toronto, thought not. "But she always had our best interests at heart," Parkinson asserted. "And we loved her to death." That's real family, not the kind you are born into, but the kind you choose to belong to later on.

Jeraldyne Blunden, the second recipient, "pursued a dream to have a school in Dayton and a black modern dance company, where classics could be performed as they were meant to be done," according to presenter Mary Hinkson, who also credited Blunden's "vision, unwavering commitment, incredibly hard work, and modesty." Julio Bocca, the third recipient, listened while his frequent partner Alessandra Ferri praised him as "technically outstanding," with "unique ... intelligence and good taste." Bocca never chose, she said, "the easy route." Saki Schorer, a foriner principal with New York City Ballet and now a teacher at SAB, was the fourth recipient. "There is something very special about our teachers," said presenter Jacques d'Amboise. "They're the ones who give us the craft and skill that later on will ... affect our hearts and minds. My teachers and their classes were the best period of my career the cleanest, truest time of a performer's life." Schorer, said d'Amboise, embodies the richest of the teaching tradition that is so essential to the future of dance.

The evening's emcee was Martin Fredmann, the artistic director and CEO of Colorado Ballet, one of America's leading dance companies--yet another important element in the diversity shown on our stage. "The recipients and presenters of the 1998 Dance Magazine Awards," he said in his opening remarks, "represent many facets of our dance world. They are all artists, all part of a gifted family. A life devoted to dance is hard--physically, emotionally, and economically. To make one's way in dance requires tremendous persistence, dedication, and passion--qualities our recipients this evening have in abundance. Each has given generously of their gifts, and their high standards are models and reminders for us all. Each has deeply affected generations of people around the world, and we encourage and applaud their accomplishments."

Yes. Reminders and models for us all.