PEOPLE AND COMPANIES IN THE NEWS:.

Dallas Black Dance Theater heads for the Harare International Festival of the Arts in Zimbabwe this month, thanks to a grant from the Fund for U.S. Artists at International Festivals and Exhibitions. Following the September 1999 grant cycle, DBDT received $20,000, the largest grant that the fund has yet awarded. At the company's fourth-annual Founder's Luncheon, Anmarie McDonald, the wife of U.S. Ambassador to Zimbabwe Tom McDonald, announced that the company would use the grant to offset the costs of traveling to and performing at the festival. The announcement followed the company's January hosting of the 13th Anniversary International Association of Blacks in Dance Conference in Dallas ... Les Grands Ballets Canadiens named Gradimir Pankov as its new artistic director. The Macedonian-born Pankov, who succeeded Lawrence Rhodes, has served as artistic director of Ballet Cullberg, the Finnish National Ballet, and Netherlands Dance Theater II, and has guest taught for international companies including American Ballet Theatre. He assumed his official duties in January ... The Danish newspaper Berlingske Tidende has given its annual Award of Honor to Frank Andersen, former principal dancer and artistic director of Denmark's Royal Danish Ballet, and an international ambassador of the Bournonville style. The award, with a cash prize roughly equivalent to $10,600, is presented annually to distinguished Danish citizens from all professions ... The American Dance Festival recently conferred Doris Duke Awards for new work upon modern dance choreographers Trisha Brown, Mark Morris, Mark Dendy, Doug Varone, Ann Carlson, and Jane Comfort. Brown and Morris each received $100,000; Dendy and Varone each received $40,000; and Carlson and Comfort each received $15,000 ... former American Ballet Theatre soloist Keith Lee has choreographed a new piece for the students of the Dreyfoos School of Arts in West Palm Beach. The piece will debut at this month's graduation Performance ... Virginia's Richmond Ballet celebrates its twentieth anniversary by moving downtown this summer to a new facility, for which it is currently raising funds ... The Nevada Ballet Theater has already moved into its new home, the Donald W. Reynolds Cultural Center in the Las Vegas resort area of Summerlin. The new 36,000-square-foot facility, will consolidate the theater's professional, administrative, technical, and academy operations ... Lines Contemporary Ballet Artistic Director Alonzo King received the "Local Hero of the Year Award" in February from Union Bank of California and San Francisco public television affiliate KQED. King was recognized for improving the quality of life in the S.F. Bay Area and honored at a gala reception. KQED aired a short documentary about his work throughout the month as part of Black History Month ... The American Dance Festival will hold auditions for Young Artists Tuition Scholarships for students who are interested in attending the ADF six-week school June 8-July 21. Auditions will be held in Long Beach, California, April 1 and in Durham, North Carolina, April 16. Each audition consists of an hour-long technique class, followed by each student performing a solo no longer than a minute and a half. For application forms, call [phone].