Honoring Dedication
 2010 Dance Council of North Texas Honors
Awards Ceremony ~ September 19, 2010
purchase tickets here
Each fall, the Dance Council celebrates the accomplishments of individuals for their lifetime contribution;
artistic and educational achievement;and service to the community.
The individuals to behonored on Sunday, September 19, 2010 at the Dance Council Honors event are:
Bruce Wood, Jay Franke, Randy Boyce, Danny Buraczeski, Terry Wolter and Jacqueline Hunter.
The prestigious awards are named for four talented and prestigious names in the dance community of North Texas: Mary McLarry Bywaters (founder of Dance Council) award for lifetime achievement to dance, Natalie Skelton (Founder of Dance Council) award for artistic excellence, Mary Warner (Initial Board Member of DCTV) award for outstanding service to dance, Larry White (Premier Dance Educator at SMU) dance educator award, and the Texas Tap Legend award.
The afternoon recognizes excellence of education, performance and community support for dance in Texas.
Past recipients include such luminaries as Nathalie Krassovska, Tom Adams, Ben Stevenson,
Patsy Swayze, Ann Williams, Anita N. Martinez, and Veletta Forsythe-Lill.
2010 Honors Recipients
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Mary McLarry Bywaters Award for Lifetime Achievement in Dance ~ Bruce Wood
Nationally recognized choreographer and artistic director of the Bruce Wood Dance Company, Bruce Wood is a well-loved Fort Worth cowboy at heart. Inspired by the austerity of west Texas, he raised horses, played polo and competed in rodeos. As a Texan, he knows the intense meaning of simple, quiet gestures. Writes Christie Sullivan, former Bruce Wood dancer and dance educator at the Hockaday School, “His choreographic genius stems from his philosophy that dance comes from the emotion, not the technique.” “My aesthetic is different because I am from here,” admits Wood. Dallas dance critic, Margaret Putnam, sums it up: “There is no choreographer more deserving of this award.” Bravo Bruce Wood. DCNT is proud to bestow this award to this unique and powerful artist.
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Natalie Skelton Award for Artistic Excellence ~ Jay Franke
Endowed with a natural flair and athleticism, Jay’s talent springs from a daring creative soul and was quickly noted. A graduate of Booker T. Washington HSPVA, Jay was a Modern Dance finalist for the Presidential Scholar in the Arts award then attended the Juilliard School. There he garnered the attention of distinguished New York teachers and choreographers. Dancing with the Twyla Tharp’s company, Tharp!, Jay performed with the Lyric Opera Ballet and Hubbard Street Dance in Chicago before joining the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company. Inspired by Rosann Cox’s vision for making dance available to the community and developing new audiences, Jay co-founded and co-directs the free, three-day Chicago Dancing Festival. In 2009, Jay was named Chicagoan of the Year by Chicago Magazine. This year he will receive the Ruth Page Award. Jay’s “talent, strength of character, and ability to bring people together to advance the art form,” writes Linda James, “have contributed to his many accomplishments in the profession.”
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Mary Warner Award for Service to Dance ~ Randy Boyse
For over fifty years, Sandy’s Shoes and Dancewear has been the dance teacher’s haven. Knowledgable, reliable, endlessly patient and friendly, Randy and his staff evolved the business from his father’s store into an east Dallas institution. Working for his dad, Randy was shy and stayed in the back “running stock.” Over the years he blossomed to personify quality and service, whether you are a first time or a longstanding customer. Now with two stores, teachers are confident in the careful fitting of each pair of shoes. Randy cares about his customers, knowing how important a perfect fit is to the young dancers’ health and safety. Randy is a hands-on retailer. He talks to teachers about what their students need and helps them avoid dancewear fads and fancies with high quality goods. DCNT has benefitted from Randy’s support and friendship.
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Larry White Dance Educator Award ~ Danny Buraczeski
Southern Methodist University brought this jazz master to Dallas after a prestigious career as dancer, choreographer, artistic director of JAZZDANCE, first in New York then Minneapolis and now Dallas... yet always a teacher. He writes, “Dancing and choreography have been my life’s work, my education about people, the world at large and myself. I share what I have learned on this journey with my students, hoping” their current goals are not their only ones. He has taught at each of the nation’s major summer dance festivals, such as Jacob’s Pillow, ADF, and Bates. A sample of his jazz choreography was selected by the American Dance Legacy Institute as a repertory tool to help students improve their dance technique and performance skills as the étude is learned, studied, performed and reflected upon. DCNT proudly presents Danny with the Larry White Dance Educator Award.
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The Texas Tap Legend ~ Terry Wolters
A
dance educator since aged 17, Terry trained with Buster Cooper and
developed her goal to share the joy and importance of learning the
art of tap dance. She formed The Rhythm Junkies, a professional tap
company, and for many years operated a studio, Dance Trax. She created dances for The Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders’ Bob Hope Show, Theatre Three, Dallas Summer Musicals
Training School and others. Debbie Bray writes that as a brilliant teacher and choreographer “she never stops learning and giving. Her footwork “create and atmosphere around the music.” Terry has worked to advance tap in north Texas by serving on the DCNT National Tap Celebration and Scholarship committees. She also taught at the Hockaday School and Ursuline Academy. She is a respected judge of national competitions. DCNT celebrates the many accomplishments of this Texas Tap Legend.
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The Texas Tap Legend ~ Jacqueline Davidson Hunter (1926 - 2010)
On March 17, 2010 the north Texas dance community lost a beloved matriarch of the tap dance community. Beginning her dance life as a youngster, she performed in “Kiddie Frolic,” a show between movies at the Texas Theatre. At 17 she began teaching at the Twinkle Toe Dance studio. Full of passion, Jackie opened her first studio at age 18 and never stopped teaching and learning. Remembers Judy Trammell, “She was so well-rounded in all areas of dance... that is what made her such a good teacher.” During her long career many were introduced to dance through her work with a national touring twirling corps, the Farmers Branch Bomberettes and her multi-faceted teaching, from ballet and tap to gymnastics and twirling. At age 65, she formed “The Tech High Showgirls,” a dance line of her high school classmates. In 2000, Jackie was the featured choreographer for the National Tap Dance Celebration. She received the Lifetime Legacy Award from the Texas Association of Teachers of Dancing. DCNT is pleased to honor the legacy and memory of Miss Jackie as a Texas Tap Legend...
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2009 HONOREES
    
Michael Jenkins Colleen Kelly Beaman Patty Sayers Jane Chalk Davis Barbara Phillips
2008 HONOREES
    
Mary Bywaters Hall of Fame
1987 Mary Bywaters
1988 Nathalie Krassovska
1989 Natalie Skelton
1990 Tom Adams
1991 Rosann Mclaughlin Cox, Frank Karhanel-Pal, Patsy Swank
1992 Jerry Bywaters Cochran, Fernando Schaffenburg
1993 Gladys Kingsbury
1994 no award
1995 Denise Brown, Margo Dean
1996 Elizabeth Ferguson
1997 Buster Cooper
1998 Sandi Combest
1999 Sis Carr
2000 Neal Hess
2001 Anita N. Martinez
2002 Patsy Swayze
2003 Gloria Whetstone
2004 Ben Stevenson
2005 Mary Lois Hudson Sweatt
2006 Toby McPheeters
2007 Janice LaPointe-Crump, Ph. D.
2008 Charles Santos
2009 Michael Jenkins
Natalie Skelton Hall of Fame
1998 Mary Cochran
1999 Chrstine Dunham Zembower
2000 Thom Clower
2001 General McArthur Hambrick
2002 Carter Alexander
2003 Griff Braun
2004 Penny Peters Wilson
2005 Willy Shives
2006 David Storey
2007 Misty Owens
2008 Catherine Turocy
2009 Colleen Kelly Beaman
Mary Warner Hall of Fame
1998 Mary Warner
1999 Calloway Cochran
2000 Jule Bovis
2001 Ellen Storeim
2002 The Dallas Morning News, James Moroney III, publisher
2003 Veletta Forsythe-Lill
2004 Juanita Brown
2005 Bill James
2006 Nadyne Seeley Legere
2007 Emmett J. Smith
2008 Sarah Nesbit
2009 Patty Sayers
Larry White Hall of Fame
2006 Ellen Page Shelton
2007 Li Chou Cheng
2008 Keisha Breaker
2009 Jane Chalk Davis
Texas Tap Legend
2005 Gracey Tune
2006 Jackie Troup Miller
Persis Forster
2007 Melba Huber
2008 Acia Gray
2009 Barbara Phillips
Special Recognition Awards
Lynn Stanford
Jannine Stegin
Curtis W. Meadows, Jr.
Kim Mulcahy
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