This Girl Is On Fire

Not only is Michelle Dorrance the first tap dancer to have accepted a Princess Grace Award for choreography, she’s now also the first tapper to receive the prestigious Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award. It’s just been announced that Dorrance will join the ranks of some of dance history’s most legendary artists—Merce Cunningham, Bill T. Jones, and Annie-B Parson are past Pillow honorees. The award comes with a generous cash prize ($25,000!) which Dorrance will accept June 15 at the Jacob’s Pillow Season Opening Gala. She’ll dance that night and also the following month, when her company Dorrance Dance is scheduled to perform during the festival, July 24–28.

 

We knew Dorrance was something more-than-special when she graced our cover back in 2008—and three years before that in an “On the Rise.” Her 2011 Bessie award-winning works Remembering Jimmy and Three to One left us wanting more of her boundary-breaking creations, and we can’t wait to see what else is on her horizon.

 

Need some Wednesday inspiration? Watch Michelle Dorrance performing at the 2012 Dance Magazine Awards.