Contact: Jean Dykstra
(212) 992-9825
jmd7@nyu.edu
Eiko Otake (MA ’07) and Takashi Koma Otake, the dancers and choreographers known collectively as Eiko & Koma, received the Doris Duke Performing Artist Award by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.
The non-restricted cash award is designed to support mid-career and accomplished performing artists. There is no application process; the winners are selected by an anonymous peer-review panel.
Eiko & Koma have been performing together for 40 years, presenting their work at theaters, universities, museums, galleries and festivals worldwide, including many appearances at the American Dance Festival and five seasons at BAM's Next Wave Festival.
They recently completed their three-year Retrospective Project, a series of performances, exhibits and publications examining their four decades of performance, which included the four-hour living gallery installation, Fragile, a collaboration with the Kronos Quartet.
“We are in the deepest gratitude to the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, its panel, staff, and board members,” the pair said. “We thank presenters, curators and our artistic collaborators with whom we have worked closely over the years. We sincerely acknowledge that our Retrospective team and amazing assistants worked tirelessly with us in creating and moving the project.”
They have received two “Bessies” (New York Dance and Performance Awards), a Guggenheim, a MacArthur and a United States Artists Fellowship. They were honored with the Samuel H. Scripps American Dance Festival Award and the Dance Magazine Award for lifetime achievement in modern dance.
