Tony Award Winner Leslie Odom Jr. Announces Princess Grace Foundation-USA's 2019 Princess Grace Award Winners In Theater, Dance & Film

NEW YORK, Aug. 13, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Princess Grace Foundation-USA (PGF-USA) is proud to have one of its most illustrious Award winners, Leslie Odom Jr., announce the winners of the 2019 Princess Grace Awards.  The Awards will be presented at the annual Princess Grace Awards Gala and continue the legacy of Princess Grace (Kelly) of Monaco, who helped emerging artists pursue their artistic goals during Her lifetime. Since 1982, the Foundation has awarded nearly 800 artists with grants totaling over $1 million annually in theater, dance and film.   In the presence of His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco, this year's Gala will be held at the Plaza Hotel in New York City on November 25, 2019.

Watch Leslie Odom Jr.'s Princess Grace Award winner announcement here.

For the eleventh year in a row, celebrated artist Alex Soldier, known for his mastery of precious miniatures, has created an objet d'art to represent the Princess Grace Awards.  The Award, realized as a wearable pin, symbolically combines the three art forms lauded by the Foundation: theater, dance and film by using precious metals and Swarovski crystal accents. 

Winners of the Awards for theater, dance and film who distinguish themselves in their artistic disciplines since receiving their Princess Grace Awards are eligible for the Foundation's Princess Grace Statue Award. This year, Chinonye Chukwu, Sundance's 2019 Grand Jury Prize winner, director of Clemency, starring Alfre Woodard, will receive the Princess Grace Statue Award. In addition to a $25,000 unrestricted cash gift, Chinonye will be presented with a bronze statue of Princess Grace created by the Dutch artist Kees Verkade. To date, sixty-seven artists have received this Award.

Brisa Trinchero, CEO of the Princess Grace Foundation-USA shared, "It is such an honor to welcome and celebrate the 2019 Princess Grace Award winners, who represent some of the nation's most outstanding emerging performing artists. These artists, who have been carefully selected by a panel of luminaries in the arts community, will become part of the Princess Grace Awards family and we will look forward to supporting them throughout their artistic journeys. Director Chinonye Chukwu, this year's Statue winner, has epitomized the artistic excellence for which this Award stands and will serve as an incredible role model for this next generation of Princess Grace Award winners."

This year's Princess Grace Award winners are: 

For Theater and Playwriting:
Julian Robertson/The Juilliard School (Grace Le Vine Theater Honor), Alicia Austin/ Yale School of Drama (Pierre Cardin Theater Honor), Salmah Beydoun/ California Institute of the Arts (Fabergé Theater Honor), Tinashe Kajese-Bolden/Alliance Theatre Company (Gant Gaither Theater Honor), Desdemona Chiang/The 5th Avenue Theatre (Robert and Gloria Hausman Theater Honor), Erika Dickerson/New Dramatists; Honoraria: Kizzmett Pringle/Pace University, Jimmica Collins/Center for Puppetry Arts.

For Dance Performance and Choreography: 
Jared Brown/The Juilliard School, Stanley Glover/BalletX, Roman Mejia/New York City Ballet (John and Jenny Paulson Dance Honor), Byron Tittle/Dorrance Dance (John and Barbara Lehman Dance Honor), Mia Chong/ ODC/Dance (Chris Hellman Dance Honor), Rena Butler/Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Randy Reyes/ CounterPulse; Choreography Honoraria: Tommie-Waheed Evans/Dance Lula Washington Dance Theatre.

For Film:
Alicia Rodriguez/George Mason University (John H. Johnson Film Honor), Ray Chang/California Institute of the Arts (Stephen Hillenburg Animation Scholarship), Isabelle Carbonell/University of California, Santa Cruz, Molly Gillis/ New York University (Cary Grant Film Honor) Daniela Repas/ Pacific Northwest College of Art, Adewale Olukayode/ Columbia University (Louis D. Srybnik Film Honor); Honoraria:  Melanie Rosete/Purchase College, Ashley Siana/Montana State University, Ajani Amiri Thomas/Howard University.

Special Project, Works in Progress Residencies at the Baryshnikov Arts Center and the Choreography Mentorship Co-Commission (CMCC) Awards are grants available to past Princess Grace Awards and Honoraria recipients for uniquely significant projects that advance their artistic development.  This year's winners are:

Special Project Awards: 
Kyle Abraham, Javier Barboza, Esy Casey, Miwa Matreyek, Benjamin Russell and Amie Siegel.

Works in Progress Residencies:
Modesto Jimenez and Raja Kelly.

Choreography Mentorship Co-Commission (CMCC) Award:
Camille A. Brown.

ABOUT THE PRINCESS GRACE FOUNDATION – USA
The Princess Grace Foundation-USA is a non-profit, publicly-supported foundation, headquartered in New York City and founded 37 years ago by Prince Rainier III of Monaco to honor his wife, Princess Grace's [Kelly] legacy.  The Foundation's mission is to identify and assist emerging talent in theater, dance and film by awarding grants in the form of scholarships, apprenticeships, and fellowships.  Since its inception the Foundation has given awards to nearly 800 recipients. Some notable Princess Grace Award Film recipients include: Jon M. Chu, director of Crazy Rich Asians and In the Heights; Emmy Award winner Cary Fukunaga, director of Bond 25, HBO's "True Detective", Netflix "Maniac" and Beasts of No Nation; Greg Mottola director of Superbad, "Arrested Development", and Amazon's "The Dangerous Book for Boys"; Stephen Hillenburg, creator of "SpongeBob SquarePants". Theater recipients include: Tony Award winner for Best Direction of a Play, Anna D. Shapiro; Pulitzer and Tony Award winning playwright Tony Kushner; Golden Globe Award winner Oscar Isaac; and Tony Award winning actor Leslie Odom Jr.  Dance/Choreography recipients include: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Artistic Director Robert Battle; American Ballet Theatre's Gillian Murphy and Isabella Boylston and New York City Ballet's Tiler Peck; as well as choreographers Camille A. Brown and Michelle Dorrance.

For more information about the Princess Grace Awards program, please visit www.pgfusa.org 
Media Contact: Rachel Biermann | Marketing and Communications Director @[email protected]

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SOURCE The Princess Grace Foundation-USA