Family.

All of us can get so involved with the present moment that we don't allow enough time to step back, take a deep breath, and ask questions: Where are we? Where are we going? How are we doing? But those are the kinds of questions asked about the state of dance at the fortieth annual Dance Magazine Awards, held May 5 at the Asia Society in New York City. There were three awards--to the Ailey company's Dudley Williams, to the director of the Paris Opera Ballet school, Claude Bessy, and jointly to Bruce Marks and Anna-Marie Holmes for their work at Boston Ballet. There was an additional special citation this year given to Hernando Cortez and his organization Dancers Responding to AIDS (DRA). (Detailed bios of the recipients are in the May issue.)

The awards, highly prestigious in the field, have taken on the feeling of a family affair--and what a big, wonderful, warm, loving, articulate, supportive family it is! Crabby, too, and sometimes dysfunctional, but a sprawling, boisterous family nonetheless. And more intensely so when the family is under attack from the outside, as it is these days in Washington and elsewhere.

The awards are an occasion for expressing concern over the state of the art, genuine appreciation for the recipients, and an infusion of mutual support. I know of no other dance event quite like this one. Dance is the single greatest story in the performing arts of the twentieth century, and the award recipients represent the best qualities of the extended dance family.

Here, see what I mean:

Presenting the special citation to DRA founder Hernando Cortez, press and public relations representative Ellen Jacobs said, "[Hernando's] sensitivity and spontaneous concern for others" are characteristic of the man who "found himself deeply affected by the death that he saw around him and the comparative silence of the dance world" over the AIDS epidemic. "Every other discipline had its own formal organizations to assist people who were HIV-positive," Ellen said, and Hernando "felt compelled to do something. That something, which is Dancers Responding to AIDS, has become a major force in the dance community." DRA has not only provided critical assistance to those in need, but it also inspired "a new kind of family spirit in the dance world, one that has united modern and ballet."

Hernando, accepting the award, explained, "DRA has, from the very beginning, been about people helping people. It's been about teamwork, about creating a sense of community, creating an extended family that cares for all its members."

Mary Hinkson, fondly remembered for dancing and teaching with the Martha Graham company, made the second presentation. "When I think of Dudley Williams," she said, "I think immediately elegant dancer. A quintessential dancer, through and through. A true aristocrat of the dance." And in response, Dudley spoke "straight from the heart" about his early training, lifelong associations, the sacrifices made by his family, and especially his debt to Alvin Ailey: "I always say that I'm rich, not rich with money, but rich with the works that Alvin gave us!" The Ailey company, on tour in Japan, sent a fax to Dudley expressing "love and congratulations." A family thing. Warm.

Presenting Claude Bessy with her award, former ABT artistic director Jane Hermann exclaimed, "You can't imagine what it is to run something like the Paris Opera Ballet School! Here is a fax from the entire faculty of the school sending Claude love and best wishes on this wonderful occasion, from everyone who works for her. Now sometimes, when you work with somebody, you have to pay respect; but this is paying love. The gist of the message on this fax is that `this is a just homage given to the best there is in the world of dance.' I don't think any of us could say it any better! Claude Bessy was a very great dancer, and if it's possible to say, she's an even greater director. We should all learn from her." Violette Verdy, the evening's effervescent host, remarked humorously, "And in France we would say that if she were president, things would be much better."

In her presentation to Bruce Marks and Anna-Marie Holmes for their work since 1985 at the Boston Ballet, journalist Elizabeth Kendall spoke of "a great and unusual partnership.... There has been a partnership, a partnership as intimate as a marriage, this marriage with forty-five children. For twelve years this unrelated man and woman have shared power, shared the care of their dancers, shared the work; yet they've had the flexibility, mutual respect, and wit to get along together and make their company grow" into what is one of America's leading regional companies.

Anna-Marie said that the profession had been "very good" to her, and she thanked Bruce for "all the support and encouragement he has given me" since she joined him in 1985, "because this has made my life a joy and pleasure every day at Boston Ballet." With Bruce's retirement next season, Anna-Marie now becomes the only solo female director of a major American ballet company.

A witty speaker whose well-known charm has won many millions of dollars in contributions to the Boston company, Bruce concluded his remarks by observing, "And last but not least, on the fortieth anniversary of these awards, this award is not about Bruce Marks or Anna-Marie Holmes or any of us. It's about all of us. It's about this community that rises again and again from the ashes--as they cut back our funding in Washington. As we find out how unimportant we are to so many politicians, we get angrier, and we get better.

"There are no choreographers like American choreographers," Bruce concluded. "And no dancers work as hard as our dancers. So this award is really for all of us. It's for this wonderful thing called the dance community. And they, and I, thank you."

Thank you!