Letter 2013 Samuel H. Scripps American Dance Festival Award Lin

Welcome Letter
2013 Samuel H. Scripps American Dance Festival Award
Lin Hwai-­‐min
The ADF wishes to thank the late Samuel H. Scripps, whose generosity made possible the annual
$50,000 Samuel H. Scripps American Dance Festival Award. The Award was established in 1981
as the first of its kind and honors chorographers who have dedicated their lives and talent to the
creation of modern dance. The continuation of the award is made possible through the SHS
Foundation and its President, Richard E. Feldman. Celebrated choreographer, director, and
educator Lin Hwai-­‐min will be presented with the 2013 Award by Joseph V. Melillo in a special
ceremony on Saturday, July 27th at 8:00 pm, prior to the Forces of Dance performance at the
Durham Performing Arts Center. The program will also include a performance of the solo from
Lin Hwai-­‐min’s 1998 work Moon Water, performed by Cloud Gate Dance Theatre dancer Chou
Chang-­‐ning.
Mr. Lin’s fearless zeal for the art form has established him as one of the most dynamic and
innovative choreographers today. His illustrious career as a choreographer has spanned over
four decades and has earned him international praise for his impact on Chinese modern dance.
He is the founder, choreographer, and artistic director of both Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of
Taiwan (founded in 1973) and Cloud Gate 2 (founded in 1992), and his choreography continues
to be presented throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. While his works often draw
inspiration from traditional elements of Asian culture and aesthetics, his choreographic
brilliance continues to push boundaries and redefine the art form.
Among Lin Hwai-­‐min's 86 choreographic works, 20 have been made into dance films, and most
recently, Mr. Lin was the subject of three full-­‐length television documentaries including the
Discovery Channel’s Portraits Taiwan: Lin Hwai-­‐min. In 1983, Mr. Lin founded the Department of
Dance at Taipei National University of the Arts and served as its Chairman for five years. He was
also the Founding Dean of the university's graduate dance program from 1993 to1994. Since
2000 he has served as the Artistic Director of the Novel Dance Series at the Novel Hall Theater,
introducing Taipei audiences to renowned artists including Eiko & Koma, Elizabeth Streb, Sidi
Larbi Cherkaoui, and Susanne Linke, among many others. He is also currently serving as the
Mentor of Dance for the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative where he helps guide the
career of a beginning choreographer.
In 2005, Mr. Lin was celebrated by Time magazine as one of “Asia’s Heroes,” and in 2009 was
recognized with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Movimentos Dance
Prize in Germany. Other honors include honorary doctorates from six
universities in both Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Taiwan National Award for Arts, the Ramon
Magsaysay Award, the John D. Rockefeller 3rd Award, and the award for Best Choreographer at
the Lyon Dance Biennial Festival. Additionally, he was given the Chevalier de l' Ordre des Arts et
des Lettres from the French Ministry of Culture.
Past recipients of the Samuel H. Scripps/American Dance Festival Award include Martha
Graham, Merce Cunningham, Paul Taylor, Hanya Holm, Alwin Nikolais, Katherine Dunham, Alvin
Ailey, Erick Hawkins, Twyla Tharp, Anna Sokolow, Donald McKayle, Talley Beatty, Trisha Brown,
Meredith Monk, Anna Halprin, Fayard and Harold Nicholas, Pina Bausch, Pilobolus Dance

Theatre, Garth Fagan, Maguy Marin, Eiko and Koma, Bill T. Jones, Murray Louis, Mark Morris,
Laura Dean, Ohad Naharin, Martha Clarke, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, William Forsythe, and
posthumously in honor of Doris Humphrey, Charles Weidman, José Limón, Pearl Primus, and
Helen Tamiris.
Endowed Chair for Distinguished Teaching
Phyllis Lamhut
Established at the ADF in 1991, the Balasaraswati/Joy Ann Dewey Beinecke Endowed Chair for
Distinguished Teaching honors teachers who have made extraordinary contributions to the field
of dance. This Award, endowed through a generous contribution from Luise Elcaness Scripps
and with additional support by Walter Beinecke, the daughters of Joy Ann Dewey Beinecke, and
the ADF, recognizes the dual role of teachers in passing on dance history and tradition and
cultivating the future creativity of dance as an art form. The chair was named for Balasaraswati,
one of India’s legendary dancers and teachers, and Joy Ann Dewey Beinecke, a former dancer
and distinguished member of the dance faculty at Williams College. The 2013 Chair will be
awarded to internationally celebrated educator and mentor, Phyllis Lamhut in a special
ceremony will be held on on Friday, June 14, 2013 at 7:00pm in White Lecture Hall on Duke
University’s East Campus.
For over four decades Phyllis Lamhut has remained dedicated to teaching the exploration of
motion and kinetic expression to students throughout the world. Her zeal for the art form and
continued commitment to teaching the principles of choreography have earned her critical
acclaim, and she is a widely sought after teacher and mentor for both students and emerging
choreographers.
Ms. Lamhut received her professional training in dance technique, improvisation, choreography,
percussion, notation, and stagecraft from Alwin Nikolais and later went on to perform as a
principal dancer with the Nikolais Dance Theatre for twenty years. Her training led her to create
her own company where her choreography was set on numerous companies including the
Limon Dance Company, Ririe-­‐Woodbury Dance Company, and the Theatre Ballet of Canada,
among many others. As a leading mentor for young professional choreographers, she has
worked as a Choreography Advisor/Editor for the Joyce Soho Residency Program, and has
directed the National Canadian Composer/Choreographer Seminar, the National Association of
Regional Ballet Craft of Choreography Conference, and the Carlyle Project “New Impulses”
choreography workshop. Ms. Lamhut presently teaches Principles of Dance Composition and
Motional Research at New York University Tisch School of the Arts and continues mentoring
professional choreographers.
Past recipients of the Chair include Pearl Primus, Daniel Nagrin, Betty Jones, Bella Lewitzky,
Anna Halprin, Donald McKayle, Bessie Schönberg, Matt Mattox, Pauline Koner, Viola Farber,
Mary Anthony, Walter Nicks, Jane Dudley, Sophie Maslow, Pearl Lang, Martha Myers, Carmen
De Lavallade, Gus Solomons, Jr., Gerri Houlihan, Dr. Charles “Chuck” Davis, Linda Tarnay,
Douglas Nielsen, Dianne McIntyre, Carolyn Adams, Sharon Kinney, Ruth Andrien, Yang Meiqi,
Donna Faye Burchfield, and Ana Marie Forsythe.