Director/producer Antonio Fini, native of Calabria, Italy and recent guest artist with the Martha Graham Dance Company, has announced the closing event of his International Dance Festival – a Gala Celebration of Italian and international artists, with performances by guest companies from Florence, Marche, Pescara and Turin, Italy, along with U.S. based companies with an Italian connection. The evening will also include awards to outstanding dance figures from Italy. The Lifetime Achievement Award will go to choreographer Gianni Santucci, born in Arezzo, Tuscany; the Extraordinary Dancer Award to ABT’s Luciana Paris and Milan native Virginia Lensi, a new corps member of ABT, will receive the Rising Star Award. The event will be geld August 30 at 8:00 pm at the Ailey Citigroup Theater located at 405 West 55th Street in New York City.
The evening will include performances by Emox Ballet of Florence, Italy, the Perla Dance Company of Marche, Italy, Balletto Di Pescara of Italy and soloists from the Turin Tap Festival, Italy. Participating New York area companies include the Buglisi Dance Theatre, Fini Dance New York, Michael Mao Dance and the Abarukas Dance Company.
Tickets for the performance are $35 per person and $20 for students and seniors. $99 tickets are also available, which include the performance and cast party. To reserve tickets go to www.danceaward.org.
