2004 Recipient: Savion Glover

The Capezio/Ballet Makers, Inc. Dance Presents Savion Glover with its 53rd Annual Capezio Dance Award

Totowa, NJ / New York, NY : The Capezio/Ballet Makers, Inc. Dance is proud to announce the selection of Savion Glover as the 53rd recipient of the Capezio Dance Award. Awarded annually since 1952, the Capezio Dance Award is presented by the Capezio/Ballet Makers, Inc. Dance , the philanthropic arm of Capezio/Ballet Makers, Inc., the world’s leading manufacturer of dance footwear and apparel.

The Capezio Dance Award celebrates significant contribution to American dance by an individual, company or institution. It honors a recipient who or which brings respect, stature and distinction to dance and who or which exhibits innovation, creativity and imagination. Savion Glover’s singular talents and accomplishments virtually redefine each of these qualifications.

From his debut at the precocious age of 12 in “The Tap Dance Kid” to his recently concluded “Improvography” with his troupe, Savion Glover has consistently exhibited his penchant for innovation and his fervor to expand the boundaries of tap. His professional accomplishments include the Tony Award for Bring In ‘Da Noise, Bring In ‘Da Funk, the Dance Magazine Choreographer of the Year Award, two Fred Astaire Awards, two Obie Awards, the Outer Critics Circle Award, multiple Broadway and film appearances, a televised performance at The White House and the creation of two dance companies.

With Glover, one has come to expect the unexpected. He incessantly expands the boundaries of tap, continually acknowledging and paying respect to the masters of the genre who preceded him. Dance aficionados acknowledge that with Glover the audience comes to appreciate the sound of what Glover is accomplishing as much as – if not more than – the visual experience. He is not only the most virtuosic of tap dancers, but a troubadour for the art form, effortlessly expanding both the audience that experience tap and the desire of children to participate, as reflected by his regular appearances on Sesame Street. Glover has made a lifetime commitment to tap: as a performer, a creator and a teacher.

Marking the occasion, the Capezio/Ballet Makers, Inc. Dance will present the Award on a date to be announced. Past recipients of the Capezio Dance Award include Charles “Honi” Coles, Martha Graham, Jerome Robbins, Mark Morris, Career Transition for Dancers, Arthur Mitchell and last year’s recipient, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. The Capezio/Ballet Makers, Inc. Dance is devoted to creating a greater appreciation of dance as an art form and, in addition to the Award, makes annual grants to national, regional, state and local dance organizations, programs and projects.