American Choreography Awards
Encyclopedia
The American Choreography Awards was a ceremony and show that honored outstanding choreographers
Choreography
Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements in which motion, form, or both are specified. Choreography may also refer to the design itself, which is sometimes expressed by means of dance notation. The word choreography literally means "dance-writing" from the Greek words "χορεία" ...

 in the fields of feature film
Feature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...

, television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

, music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...

s, and commercial
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...

s. They were first known as the L.A. Dance Awards (1994–95), then as Bob Fosse
Bob Fosse
Robert Louis “Bob” Fosse was an American actor, dancer, musical theater choreographer, director, screenwriter, film editor and film director. He won an unprecedented eight Tony Awards for choreography, as well as one for direction...

 Awards, and a.k.a. Fosse’s (1996–97), and eventually the American Choreography Awards (1998-'04). Each year in the fall, they were held at a different location in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

. These include places such as the Orpheum Theatre, El Capitan Theatre
El Capitan Theatre
El Capitan Theatre is a fully restored movie palace at 6838 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood. It is owned by Pacific Theatres and operated by the Walt Disney Company. It serves as the venue for many of Walt Disney Pictures' movie premieres...

, Alex Theatre, Wilshire Ebell Theatre, The Hollywood Palace
The Hollywood Palace
The Hollywood Palace is an hour-long American television variety show that was broadcast weekly on ABC from January 4, 1964 to February 7, 1970. It began as a mid-season replacement for the short-lived Jerry Lewis Show, another variety show which had lasted only three months...

, The Museum of Flying
Museum of Flying
-History:Originally founded in 1974 by Donald Douglas Jr. as the Douglas Museum and Library located on the South side of the Santa Monica Airport, the Museum migrated to the North side of the Airport and reopened as the Museum of Flying in April 1989...

, The Century Club
The Century Club
The Century Club is a fictional gentleman's club in Manhattan for wealthy executives set in the Marvel Comics Universe, specifically in the Spider-Man titles. The club was first shown in Amazing Spider-Man #23 however was not referred to as The Century Club until Amazing Spider-Man #249...

, and Club Tatou.

The template for American Choreography Awards was created in 1994 (as the L.A. Dance Awards) by the Choreographers Resourcenter, a group of individuals led by Grover Dale, who were determined to expose and get recognition for the art of choreography for the camera. Due to a generous grant from the Bob Fosse Foundation, they were titled the Fosse Awards for two years(1996-'97)and in 1998 became the American Choreography Awards. The decade of accumulative awards were eventually recognized as one of the highest standards of achievement in choreography throughout the entertainment industry.

Choreographers were nominated in eight different categories of choreography. These include feature film, short film
Short subject
A short film is any film not long enough to be considered a feature film. No consensus exists as to where that boundary is drawn: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all...

, television special
Television special
A television special is a television program which interrupts or temporarily replaces programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Sometimes, however, the term is given to a telecast of a theatrical film, such as The Wizard of Oz or The Ten Commandments, which is not part of a regular...

, episodic and variety show
Variety show
A variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is an entertainment made up of a variety of acts, especially musical performances and sketch comedy, and normally introduced by a compère or host. Other types of acts include magic, animal and circus acts, acrobatics, juggling...

, fight choreography, commercials, and music videos. In addition to awards within each category, honorary awards were given by the event production team such as the Governor’s Award, the Educator’s Award, the Innovator Award, the Career Achievement Award and/or the Lifetime Achievement Award.

The way in which the nominations were determined was through ballots mailed to membership mailing lists. After calculation by the event team, the top five in each category were then screened by seven individual panel committees, composed of producers, directors, casting directors, and media choreographers. The committee members then selected the winner (and often ties) in each category.

For the last five years of the event (2000-'04) The Academy of Dance on Film (DOF) presented and was the beneficiary of these prestigious awards. Larry Billman founded the Academy in 1998. He was a former tapper who turned stage writer, researcher, and director. He created a non-profit organization
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...

 catering to the interests of teachers, choreographers, researchers, students, and dance fans. Billman has been collecting dance
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....

 related material for over thirty years through donations and his own purchases. Originally, it was housed in Hollywood, where the American Choreography Awards (ACA) team had an office and work space. To save the foundation's budget, it was moved to Billman's own home in Orange County, California, until it was officially dissolved in December, 2009. The goal of the archive was to bring attention to artists who created dance for the camera. During Billman’s research for his encyclopedia
Encyclopedia
An encyclopedia is a type of reference work, a compendium holding a summary of information from either all branches of knowledge or a particular branch of knowledge....

 Film Choreographers and Dance Directors, he came to realize that he needed a place to assemble all of his research findings. The Academy was eventually home to 2000 magazines, 3,000 videotapes and DVDs, 3000 books, 1500 playbill
Playbill
Playbill is a monthly U.S. magazine for theatregoers. Although there is a subscription issue available for home delivery, most Playbills are printed for particular shows to be distributed at the door...

s, and an assortment of photographs, from films, stage musicals, and dance companies
Dance company
A dance troupe or dance company is a group of dancers and associated personnel who work together to perform dances as a spectacle or entertainment.-Members:*Artistic Director*Choreographers*Dancers*Board of Directors*Education administrator...

. These artifacts covered all styles of dance and genres of movement, martial arts
Martial arts
Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....

, combat and fighting, ice dance, fencing
Fencing
Fencing, which is also known as modern fencing to distinguish it from historical fencing, is a family of combat sports using bladed weapons.Fencing is one of four sports which have been featured at every one of the modern Olympic Games...

 and swordplay, gymnastics
Gymnastics
Gymnastics is a sport involving performance of exercises requiring physical strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, and balance. Internationally, all of the gymnastic sports are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique with each country having its own national governing body...

, acrobatic and circus technique, silent film
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...

 comedy, created for the camera. Many of the holdings have found new homes at the libraries at Chapman University. the University of Nevada at Las Vegas and San Diego State University. Conversations are ongoing with the Billy Rose theater and Jerome Robbins dance collections at Lincoln Center, The Smithsonian and other archives to assure that all of DOF's "treasures" will have new homes.

“Dance is a barometer of our culture. I want scholars, but more importantly, kids and students, to know how and where these movements came from- that the Nicholas Brothers
Nicholas Brothers
The Nicholas Brothers were a famous African American team of dancing brothers, Fayard and Harold . With their highly acrobatic technique , high level of artistry and daring innovations, they were considered by many the greatest tap dancers of their day...

 are tied to break-dancing, and that Astaire
Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire was an American film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer and actor. His stage and subsequent film career spanned a total of 76 years, during which he made 31 musical films. He was named the fifth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute...

 by defying gravity, leads to The Matrix
The Matrix
The Matrix is a 1999 science fiction-action film written and directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, and Hugo Weaving...

Choreography.” – Larry Billman

American Choreography Award Officers:
Board of Governors: Julie Arenal Grover Dale, Peggy Holmes, Ceclie Stuart
Executive Producers: Julie Arenal, Larry Billman, Hunter Baldus, Teresa Campbell, Lucille DiCampli, Brian Gendece, Peggy Holmes, Alan Johnson, Julie McDonald, Zack Reed, Dorian Sanchez, Shanda Sawyer, Tony Selznick, Cecilie Stuart, Matt Terry, Allen Walls

Event Chronology and Award Recipients
LA Dance Awards, September 18, 1994, Club Tatou, Beverly Hills
Beneficiary: The Choreographers Resourcenter
Heritage Award: Bob Fosse
Educator Award: Joe Tremaine
Outstanding Achievement in Motion Pictures (Tie): “What’s Love Got to Do with It?” – Michael Peters/”Swing Kids” – Otis Sallid

2nd Annual LA Dance Awards, October 15, 1995, Century City Club, Century City
Beneficiary: AIDS Healthcare Foundation
Lifetime Achievement Award: Jack Cole
Educator Award: Patsy Swayze
Alternative Dance Award: Toni Basil
Commercials: “Discover Card” – Bill and Jacqui Landrum
Outstanding Achievement in Motion Pictures: “The Mask” – Jerry Evans

The Bob Fosse Awards, September 30, 1996, The Museum of Flying, Santa Monica
Beneficiary: AIDS Healthcare Foundation
Lifetime Achievement Award: Michael Kidd
Educator Award: Claude Thompson
Alternative Dance: Daniel Ezralow
Commercials: SAP America “Office Building” – Adam Shankman
Music Video: Bjork’s “It’s Oh So Quiet”– Michael Rooney
Motion Pictures: “Mighty Aphrodite” – Graciela Daniels

The Fosse Awards, November 9, 1997, The Hollywood Palace, Hollywood
Beneficiary: Arnold Schwarzennegar’s Inner City Games, The Bob Fosse and Michael Peters Scholarship Funds
Show Director: Mary Ann Kellogg
Career Achievement Award: Herbert Ross
Educator Award: Pat Jackson
Innovator Award: Debra Brown
Governance Award: Vincent Paterson
Commercials: Wyndham Hotel – Michael Rooney
Music Video: Michael Jackson’s “Ghost” – Michael Jackson, Travis Payne, LaVelle Smith, Barry Lather
Television Episodic: “Pearl” – Toni Basil
Television Variety or Special: “1996 Olympic Games, Opening Ceremony” – Judy Chabola, Kenny Ortega
Motion Pictures: “Everyone Says I Love You” – Graciela Daniele

5th Annual American Choreography Award (formerly known as The Fosse Awards), October 18, 1998, Wilshire Ebell Theatre, Los Angeles
Beneficiaries: The Academy of Dance on Film (DOF), The Ebell Scholarship
Hosts: L A Dance Foundation (LADF), Stage Society of Directors and Choreographers (SSDC), Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation (SDCF)
Show Director: Shanda Sawyer
Career Achievement: Marc Breaux and Dee Dee Wood
Educator: Stanley Holden
Innovator: Cholly Atkins
Commercials: Jenny – Marguerite Derricks
Music Video: Brian Setzer’s “Jump, Jive and Wail” – Travis Payne
Television Episodic: Chicago Hope: “Brain Salad Surgery” – Kenny Ortega
Television Variety or Special: “Christopher Reeves – A Celebration of Hope” – Keith Young
Motion Pictures (Tie): “The Full Monty” – Suzanne Grand; “The Last Tango” – Pablo Veron
Production Designers: John Shaffner and Joe Stewart

6th Annual American Choreography Awards, September 13, 2000, Alex Theatre, Glendale (Honoring two years 1999 and 2000)
Beneficiary: Academy of Dance on Film (DOF)
Career Achievement: Lester Wilson
Educator: Luigi
Governors Award: The GAP
Commercials: The GAP’s “Khaki A Go-Go” – Marguerite Derricks (1999)/The GAP’s “America” – Alan Johnson (2000)
Music Video: Ricky Martin’s “Livin’ La Vida Loca” Tina Landon (’99)/Brian Setzer’s ”If You Can’t Rock Me” - Travis Payne (’00)
Television Variety/Special: “Hymn to Alvin Ailey” – Judith Jamison (99)/”Annie” – Rob Marshall (’00)
Television Episodic : “Drew Carey Show” - Keith Young (’99)/”Drew Carey Show” – Jerry Mitchell (’00)
Feature Film: “Tango” – Juan Carlos Copes, Carlos Rivarola, Ana Maria Stekelman (’99) /”Center Stage” – Susan Stroman, Christopher Wheeldon (’00)
7TH Annual American Choreography Awards. October 14, 2001, El Capitan Theatre, Hollywood
Beneficiary: Academy of Dance on Film (DOF)
Career Achievement Award: Tony Charmoli
Educator Award – Lula Washington
Governors Award – Bob Mackie
Commercials: Exxon/Mobil “Swing” – Michael Rooney
Music Video: Fat Boy Slim’s “Weapon of Choice” – Fat Boy Slim – Michael Rooney
Music Video – Hip Hop (Tie): Mya’s “Case of the Ex” – Tina Landon/ Mya’s “Free” – Brian “Footwork” Green
Television, Episodic: Two Guys and a Girl: “The One Without the Dialogue” –Patti Columbo
Television, Special: “2001 Miss America Pageant – Barry Lather
Feature Film: “Moulin Rogue” – John O’Connell
8TH Annual American Choreography Awards. October 20, 2002, El Capitan Theatre, Hollywood
Show Director: Scott Grossman
Beneficiary: Academy of Dance on Film (DOF)
Career Achievement Award: Marge and Gower Champion
Educator Award – Henry LeTang
Innovator – Jackie Chan
Commercials: Rubbermaid – Vincent Paterson
Music Video: Usher – Anwar “Flii” Burton, Rosero McCoy, Todd Sams, Jamal Sims, Devyne Stephens, Earl “Punch” Wright, Russell “Goofy” Wright
Television, Episodic: “That 70‘s Show” – Marguerite Derricks
Television, Variety or Specia (Tie)l: “2002 Winter Olympic Games” – Kenny Ortega, Doug Jack, Sarah Kawahara/”Aeros” – Daniel Ezralow, David Parsons, Moses Pendelton
Fight Choreography: “Alias” – John Medlen
Short Film: “Modern Daydreams” – Ashley Roland, Jamie Hampton. Mitchell Rose
Feature Film: “Lagaan” – Saroj Khan, Raju Khan, Ganesh Hegde, Vaibhavi Merchant, Terence Lewis, John Mortimer
9TH Annual American Choreography Awards. November 9, 2003, Orpheum Theatre, Los Angeles
Show Director: Scott Grossman
Beneficiary: Academy of Dance on Film (DOF)
Career Achievement Award: Alan Johnson
Educator Award – Sallie Whelan
Governors Award – Don Mischer
Innovator – Luke Creswell and Steve McNichols – STOMP
Commercials: “Do It Ebay – Michael Rooney
Music Video: Missy Elliott featuring Ludicris’ “Gossip Folk” – Hi-Hat
Television, Episodic: “Boston Public” – Joseph Malone
Television, Variety or Special: “The Wayne Brady Show” – Christopher Quiban
Short Film: “Horses Never Lie” – Caroline Richardson
Fight Choreography: “The Bourne Identity” – Nick Powell
Feature Film: “Chicago” – Rob Marshall, John DeLuca, Cynthia Onrubia, Joey Pizzi, Denise Faye

10TH Annual American Choreography Awards. October 17, 2004, Orpheum Theatre, Los Angeles
Beneficiary: Academy of Dance on Film (DOF)
Career Achievement Award: Kenny Ortega
Educator Award: Ka-Ron Brown Lehman
Innovator: Walt Disney
Commercials: Target “Changing of the Guards” – Fatima Robison
Music Video: Missy Elliott’s “Pass Dat Dutch” – Hi-Hat, Anwar “Flii” Burton, Cicely Bradely, Olisa Thompson
Television, Episodic: Malcom in the Middle: “Jump Jump” – Fred Talleksen
Television, Special: “2003 Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon” – Jason Samuel Smith/”Arts of Ardor” PBS Dance in America – Paul Taylor
Television, Variety: MAD TV: “Regional Championships” (– Monie Anderson
Fight Choreography (Tie): “Pirates of the Caribbean, The Curse of the Black Pearl”- George Marshall Ruge/”Kill Bill Vol. 2” – Keith Adams, Sonny Chiba, Quentin Tarantino, Yuen Woo-Ping
Short Film: “Amelia” La La Human Steps – Edouard Lock
Feature Film (Tie): “The Triplets of Belleville” – Sylvain Chomet/”You Got Served” – Shane Sparks, Robert James Hoffman
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