Metro DC Dance Awards
The Metro DC Dance Awards was founded in 2000 by Cheles Rhynes and Mason/Rhynes Productions as a means of recognizing excellence in local dance and building community among DC-area dance artists and organizations. Since its inception, the MDCDA has produced annual awards ceremonies and developed an online calendar of dance performances by local artists. The organization is operated by volunteers who serve on an Advisory Board and a Selection Committee. For the first awards ceremony in 2001, artists were nominated for awards by a panel of local dance experts and selected by popular vote. The following year, MDCDA designed and implemented a three-step voting process which maintains the involvement of the community, increases the role of artists in the selection of award winners, and gives dance professionals the last vote in the process. Categories continue to be added and refined as decided by the Advisory Board. Dance/MetroDC , a branch office of Dance/USA , the national service organization for nonprofit professional dance, became the lead organization for MDCDA in 2006. Dance/MetroDC works in conjunction with The Kennedy Center and Mason/Rhynes Productions to produce the awards ceremony, and other events associated with MDCDA. MDCDA continues to evolve as an organization which both serves and celebrates the metropolitan DC/MD/VA dance community.

CityDance Ensemble
CityDance Ensemble is a contemporary repertory dance company that has earned a reputation as "Washington's preeminent modern dance company” (The Washington Times). Led by Artistic Director Paul Emerson, CityDance Ensemble performs athletic, challenging repertory by choreographers from the United States and around the world. The mission of CityDance Ensemble, Inc. is to advance the appreciation for and participation in the art of dance in Washington, D.C., the United States, and around the world through excellence in dance performance, education, film, collaboration, and innovation. Photo by Lois Greenfield.
www.citydance.net