Media Contact:
Mariclare Hulbert
mariclare.hulbert@nullgmail.com
April 4, 2025
Washington, DC (April 4, 2025) Dance/USA, the national service organization for the dance ecosystem, announces the recipients of the Dance/USA Honor, ‘Ernie’, Champion, and Trustees Awards, to be presented at the 2025 Dance/USA National Conference in Chicago, June 17-20. New this year, Dance/USA will also present the inaugural Emerging Leader Award.
Awardees Include:
“These Dance/USA Awards mark a time-honored tradition of honoring remarkable leaders in our industry. We are filled with joy to celebrate these individuals and organizations at our upcoming National Conference in Chicago. Each artist and organization has dedicated deep commitment, labor, and ingenuity to the U.S. dance ecosystem; we are grateful for their contributions!”
— Kellee Edusei, Dance/USA Executive Director
The Dance/USA Awards have been given to extraordinary leaders in the dance ecosystem, both artists and administrators, over the past thirty years. The awards are a tradition of Dance/USA beginning in 1986 with the first Honor Awards given to Antony Tudor and Martha Graham and in 1990 with the first ‘Ernie’ Award given to Ian ‘Ernie’ Horvath. Over the years, outstanding leaders such as Arthur Mitchell, Paul Taylor, Alvin Ailey, Deborah Jowitt, Sam Miller, Katherine Dunham, and many more have been recognized for their achievements and contributions to the national dance community.
The Dance/USA Honor, ‘Ernie’, and Trustees Awards recognize an individual’s contributions to dance in America and acknowledge the roles they play in the national dance landscape. Nominations for Dance/USA’s Honor and ‘Ernie’ awards were accepted from the entire dance ecosystem, and the final selection is made by Dance/USA’s Awards Impact Group. The Trustees Award is given at the discretion of the Dance/USA Board of Trustees to recognize an outstanding professional or organization whose work has special significance to the community.
The Dance/USA Champion Award honors an organization, foundation, or individual in the National Conference host city (Chicago, IL in 2025) whose achievements, leadership, and unwavering support have significantly advanced and sustained the local dance ecosystem. This award celebrates those who have made a lasting impact on the city’s dance landscape, ensuring its vibrancy and growth. The inaugural Emerging Leader Award recognizes an individual in Chicago (the site of Dance/USA’s 2025 National Conference) who has demonstrated exceptional contributions to the city’s dance ecosystem within the first 10 years of their career. This inaugural award highlights the rising leaders who are shaping the future of dance in Chicago.
Honoree Bios
A native of Chicago’s Cabrini Green neighborhood, Joel Hall (he/him), with Joseph Ehrenberg, co-founded Chicago City Theatre Company in 1974. This unique performing arts organization includes the Joel Hall Dancers and the Joel Hall Dancers & Center training facility. Hall’s unique style— Urban Jazz—is based in Jazz and expresses a rich vocabulary embracing Classical, Modern, and Street dance idioms. “Jazz dance at its best,” says Dance Magazine. Award and citations include induction into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame, “Lifetime Achievement for Service to the Field” and a “Lifetime Achievement” award from the Jazz Dance World Congress, and many others.
Jessica Leyva (she/her) is a professional dance artist, non-profit executive administrator and institutional giving consultant based in Chicago, IL. Earning a BFA from the University of California, Irvine, she quickly established herself as a leader in the local field of cultural development as a freelance grant writer and Executive Director of Chicago Dance Crash. In addition to her current role at Chicago Dance Crash, Jessica recently joined the team at Artistic Fundraising Group as an Institutional Giving Consultant. A classically trained ballerina and contemporary dance artist, Jessica is also an active practitioner in Chicago’s street dance and popping community and has been known to grace the Crash stage when called upon. She has placed in multiple national and international popping and animation competition brackets including Out of the Shadows (Chicago), Lords of the Land (Cleveland) and Unimate (Los Angeles) and is proud to represent Chicana women in popping and arts leadership.
Rita Mustaphi (she/her) is a choreographer, dancer and educator in the Kathak style of Indian classical dance. She immigrated from India in 1970 and became co-founder & artistic director of Katha Dance Theatre. She is also a wife, mother & grandmother! Rita is known for her visionary approach and innovations in Kathak dance; her multi-disciplinary productions incorporating spoken word, live and commissioned music; and her utilization of multimedia production elements. Under her vision and leadership, Katha Dance Theatre has become renowned for its genre-bending, dynamic productions; distinctive movement style; and technical virtuosity. Her detailed, intelligently crafted storytelling is recognized as being profoundly moving and effortlessly intimate. She is a recipient of four McKnight Fellowships (2023, 1998, 1992, 1988) for choreography. She has received a Leadership award from the Council of Asian Pacific Minnesotans, a Nari Shakti Award from the Govt. of India for her work empowering women, a Lifetime Achievement award from the India Association of Minnesota and an Education award from the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in the category of Excellence in Vision. Rita strives to enhance the community by bridging diverse cultures and audiences to contribute to life’s infinite artistic expressions.
Established in 1996 by the New England Foundation for the Arts, the National Dance Project (NDP) is widely recognized as one of the country’s major sources of funding and field building for dance. NDP has invested more than $51.5 million in funding primarily to support the creation and touring of new dance projects, as well as other initiatives, including production residencies and regionally focused professional development for dance artists. During its almost 30-year history, NDP has supported over 820 dance projects that have toured to all 50 states, Washington, DC, Guam, and Puerto Rico reaching more than 3.6 million audience and community members.
A native of Chicago, Illinois, Jonathan Pacheco (he/him) is a dancer, arts administrator, and rising leader within the local and national performing arts industry. A member of the internationally acclaimed Ensemble Español Spanish Dance Theater since 2015, and the Executive Office and Campaign Manager at Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Jonathan has made exceptional contributions to the excellence, diversification, and vitality of Chicago’s cultural community. Jonathan’s work with Ensemble Español is focused on the presentation, promotion, and preservation of the various styles of Spanish dance, including flamenco, folklore, classical, and escuela bolera. He has worked closely with some of the world’s most influential Spanish dance artists. Jonathan’s numerous accolades include being recognized as a flourishing cultural leader by the publication Negocios Now in its “Latinos 40 Under 40” List, he received an Individual Artist Program Award from Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, and he was named “Best Dancer” by the Chicago Reader. He is a proud graduate of Northeastern Illinois University.
Stoner Winslett (she/her) is the Founding Artistic Director of Richmond Ballet, The State Ballet of Virginia. During her 44 years as Artistic Director of Richmond Ballet, she built the Company into one of the most respected dance organizations in the United States with a repertory featuring timeless classics and 90 new works by 37 different choreographers, including herself. Stoner has led the Company through six seasons in New York City, its international debut in London in 2012, and the Company’s Asian debut in China in May 2015. She also founded Minds In Motion in 1995, a community engagement program that has provided dance education to thousands of elementary students across Virginia and beyond. She has been an active leader in the country’s performing arts community, and has served as Vice Chair of Dance/USA, President of The John Butler Foundation, and as a U.S. Delegate to the Peoples Republic of China People-to-People Exchange. As a passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion in ballet, Stoner was part of a select group of artistic directors convened by Dance Theatre of Harlem to launch The Equity Project. She was the longest-serving artistic director and one of the few female artistic directors of a major ballet company in the United States during her tenure.
About Dance/USA
Propelled by our belief that dance can inspire a more just and humane world, Dance/USA will amplify the power of dance to inform and inspire a nation where creativity and the field thrive.
Established in 1982, Dance/USA champions an inclusive and equitable dance field by leading, convening, advocating, and supporting individuals and organizations. Dance/USA’s core programs are focused in the areas of engagement, advocacy, research, and preservation. Learn more about Dance/USA at danceusa.org.
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