Lucinda Childs, Rennie Harris among Bessie winners. (Presstime News).

Less than forty blocks north of Ground Zero in Manhattan, the seventeenth annual New York Dance and Performance Awards ceremony, also known as the Bessies, took place on September 21. Although New York was still reeling from the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on September 11, David White, director of Dance Theater Workshop, and the Bessies committee decided the awards ceremony at the Joyce Theater would provide a necessary and positive gathering for the dance community.

"The Bessies help document what's going on in a community at a certain time," White said. "There are so few ritual occasions in our community, since it is largely motivated by individuals rather than by organizations. The Bessies represent a community that depends on each other."

Hosted with warmth, sobriety, and appropriate wit by performers Patricia Hoffbauer and George Emilio Sanchez, the ceremony not only awarded twenty-eight citations for outstanding performers, choreographers, composers, and visual designers, but also allowed presenters and winners to express their feelings about the crisis.

Rennie Harris PureMovement danced an electrifying excerpt from the hip-hop riff on Shakespeare, Rome and Jules, complete with b-boy stunts and acrobatics. In contrast, David Gordon and Valda Setterfield performed a quiet, moving duet.

The awards, nicknamed for the late choreographic mentor Bessie Schonberg, are chosen by a panel of twenty-three delegates from the New York dance community who meet each month to discuss possible nominees. The 2001 winners were a particularly diverse group. "The Bessies are always like a translucent pane that lets shine through what is out there," White said.

Choreographer/Creator Awards were given to Lucinda Childs, David Gordon, John Jasperse, Rennie Harris, Guy Klucevsek and Dan Hurlin, Bjorn G. Amelan and Bill T. Jones, Bebe Miller, and Catherine Turocy. Composer Awards went to Cynthia Hopkins, Darrin Ross, and Hahn Rowe.

Among the winners of the Performer Awards were Soledad Barrios of Noche Flamenca, Rodney Mason of Rennie Harris PureMovement, and Buffy Miller of Ballet Tech. Sustained Achievement Awards in the Performer category went to Nancy Bannon of Doug Varone and Dancers, Patrick Corbin of the Paul Taylor Dance Company, Stephanie Tooman for her work with Reggie Wilson, and Jodi Melnick and David Thomson for their work with various choreographers.

Visual Design Awards were handed to David Ferri, Bernard Lagace, Rick Murray, Scott Pask, and Michael Mazzola. A Performance Installation and New Media Award went to Adrian Piper for her retrospective at The New Museum.

This year's Special Citations were given to three notable artists. Dennis Diamond was lauded for his work as a videographer (with the award presented by his brother, Matthew Diamond, in a humorous video clip); Merce Cunningham accepted an award for David Vaughan, his longtime archivist, who was performing in Dublin.

But the highlight of the already historic evening was the presentation of a Special Citation to Katherine Dunham, the choreographer, anthropologist, social activist, and pioneer of world dance. Seated in her wheelchair in the audience, she made it clear that dance, even in periods of terrorism, would not only survive but prevail. She offered four words to remember during hard times: "Peace, wisdom, courage, and love. They'll help you. Believe me, they will," she said. "Everything I have goes with you."