2009 Astaire Award Winners announced

The 2009 Astaire Awards Ceremony, hosted by Alan Cumming, took place on 1 Jun 2009 at The Haft Auditorium at Fashion Institute of Technology.

Peter Darling (Billy Elliot) took home the award for Best Broadway Choreographer and Longines Fernandes (Slumdog Millionaire) for Best Film Choreographer.

The awards for Best Female and Male Dancers went to Pia Glenn (You�re Welcome America...) and David Alvarez, Trent Kowalik and Kiril Kulish (Billy Elliot).

In addition to the Awards Ceremony, the night included performances of some of the best Broadway and Hollywood dance numbers, alongside stars of the stage and screen. Liza Minnelli presented American film director and choreographer, hailed as �the King of the Hollywood musicals,� Stanley Donen (Singin� In The Rain, On the Town) with the 2009 Douglas Watt Lifetime Achievement Award. Other presenters included Savion Glover, Bebe Neuwirth and Geoffrey Rush.

Performances from nominated choreographers and dancers included �Electricity� from Billy Elliot performed by Kiril Kulish and Martha Plimpton and cast performing �That Terrific Rainbow� from Pal Joey, as well as tribute performances to Clive Barnes and Stanley Donen.

Nominations for the 2009 Astaire Awards were announced by Michael Riedel of the New York Post on4 May 2009. The selections were made by this year�s Nominating Committee; Sylviane Gold (Theater Columnist for Dance Magazine), Anna Kisselgoff (former Chief Dance Critic of The New York Times), Wendy Perron (Editor in Chief of Dance Magazine), Linda Winer (Chief Theater Critic of Newsday) and Damian Woetzel (Former Principal Dancer, New York City Ballet).

The producers of the 2009 Astaire Awards, which recognizes excellence in dance on stage and in film, are Patricia Watt and Ron Glucksman.

The Awards for the 2009 Astaire Awards were designed by Donna Distefano.

The 2009 Fred & Adele Astaire Award winners and nominations are listed below:
***Winners are indicated in bold font.

• Best Broadway Choreographer:
• Andy Blankenbuehler: 9 to 5: The Musical
• Karole Armitage: Hair
• Peter Darling: Billy Elliot, the Musical
• Sergio Trujillo: Guys and Dolls
• Graciela Daniele: Pal Joey

• Best Film Choreographer:
• Anthony Van Laast: Mamma Mia
• Longines Fernandes: Slumdog Millionaire
• Aakomon �AJ� Jones: Center Stage Turn It Up
• Tracy Phillips: Make It Happen
• Patrick de Bana and Pedro Gomes: Fados
• Kenny Ortega: High School Musical 3
• Todd Underwood: Were the World Mine

• Best Female Dancer:
• Karen Olivo: West Side Story
• Angel Reed, Katherine Tokarz and Savannah Wise: Rock Of Ages
• Kearran Giovanni: Guys and Dolls
• Pia Glenn: You�re Welcome America. A Final Night with George W Bush

• Best Male Dancer:
• David Alvarez: Trent Kowalik and Kiril Kulish, Billy Elliot - the role of Billy
• David Bologna and Frank Dolce: Billy Elliot, the Musical - the role of Michael
• Jeffry Denman: Irving Berlin's White Christmas
• Matthew Risch: Pal Joey

The Astaire Awards, established 26 years ago by the Anglo-American Contemporary Dance Foundation, recognize outstanding achievement in dance on Broadway each season. The awards were established with the cooperation of Fred Astaire to honor him and his sister, Adele, who starred with her brother in 10 Broadway musicals between 1917 and 1931.

In 2008 the Awards were expanded to include dance in choreography for film as this was the m�tier that brought Fred Astaire to international fame and a permanent slot on every list of the top movie stars of the century.

Previous winners of awards for dance performance include: Debbie Allen, Hinton Battle, Charlotte D'Amboise, Savion Glover, Gregory Hines, Natalia Makarova, Donna McKechnie, Ann Miller, Bebe Neuwirth, Ann Reinking and Chita Rivera.

Previous winners of awards for choreography are include: George Balanchine, Michael Bennett, Patricia Birch, Wayne Cilento, Graciela Daniele, Bob Fosse, Peter Martins, Ann Reinking, Jerome Robbins, Susan Stroman, and Tommy Tune.