Jerome Foundation supports achugar's work

luciana achugar is a recipient of a 2010 Grant from The Jerome Foundation. The Jerome Foundation, created by artist and philanthropist Jerome Hill (1905-1972), makes grants to support the creation and production of new artistic works by emerging artists living in Minnesota and New York City. For more information, visit: www.jeromefdn.org.

achugar recipient of the 2010 Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists Award

The program selects a group of distinguished artists in various fields each year by nomination, to receive a generous unrestricted Award. Since 1963, The Foundation for Contemporary Arts has provided grants to artists in the areas of dance, music/sound, performance art/theater, poetry, and the visual arts. For more information visit www.foundationforcontemporaryarts.org.

MAP FUND to support achugar's upcoming work PURO DESEO

PURO DESEO premiering at The Kitchen in the Spring of 2010, will be supported through a generous grant from the MAP FUND. For more information about 2009 MAP FUND grantees, click here.

BAX names luciana achugar a 2009/10 Artist in Residence

achugar will participate in the 2009/10 Artist in Residence Program at the Brooklyn Arts Exchange as she develops her new work PURO DESEO, premiering in the Spring of 2010. As part of the residency achugar will receive administrative and artistic support throughout the work's development, and have the opportunity to take part in public work-in-progress showings. For more information about BAX and the AIR Program, click here.

A Super Natural Return to Love Presented at Walker Art Center in Minneapolis

achugar's 2004 work, A Super Natural Return to Love enjoyed a successful Minneapolis premiere as part of New World Dance: New York. The work completed an evening featuring work Nora Chipaumire, Nami Yamamoto and achugar. “In an evening defined by strong female artistic perspectives,” said Caroline Palmer of the Star Tribune, “achugar's 'uncivilized women' provoke the most extreme reaction.” For more information on the Minneapolis premiere at Walker Art Center click here. The tour was supported in part with funding from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts.

LMCC honors luciana with the 2009 Prestigious President's Award

The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, honored luciana achugar at The Downtown Dinner 2009 Gala on April 20, 2009. Maggie Boepple, President of the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, presented achugar with The Liberty, LMCC's 2009 prestigious President's Award: The Liberty. To see event images, click here.

Praise for The Sublime is Us
"Changes to the way we see dance, to the way we think about it, come in small increments. The Sublime is Us is one," said Roslyn Sulcas of The New York Times.

"…[A] Busby Berkeley dream in the flesh…" hailed Elizabeth Zimmer of METRO New York, "We watch ourselves watching them, a very disconcerting sensation…"

"…The Sublime Is Us challenges us with a sometimes primal physicality, while containing it in a carefully organized structure… As the piece ends, a woman in the audience checks the mirror and fixes her hair. What could be more natural, given the smoke-and-mirrors atmosphere of today's political atmosphere?" observes Deborah Jowitt for The Village Voice.

BAX10 Passing It On Award
This year, luciana achugar was honored to receive the BAX Passing It On award from Tere O'Connor. Each year, BAX10 award winners are given the opportunity to nominate an up-and-coming individual in their field to receive the award. On November 13th, Tere O'Connor honored luciana at the BAX10 Award Ceremony. He had this to say:

"luciana is asking questions of dance. She is attempting to live in the middle of divides between behavior and style; presentation and action; theater and public space. I find her artistic journey incredibly compelling. Through her investigations, she creates works that have an uncommon, but inevitable form. They convince through their otherness, like an odd looking person who you fall in love with after your first meeting. luciana's immersion into questions of the body, of woman-ness and of hierarchical organizational systems is truthful and enlightening. Her works are shaped by internal content that manifests itself on the surface of her art. This places her far from the choreographic default settings employed by many, where visible design is mistaken for choreography. She offers us a different value system by posing art as heightened existence rather than spectacle."

-Tere O'Connor, BAX10 Award Recipient

NYFA 2008 Fellowship for Choreography
luciana was also honored to receive a NYFA 2008 Fellowship for Choreography earlier this year. The Fellowship, along with the private supporters of the company, allowed for the development of The Sublime is Us. For more information about NYFA programs and award winners visit www.nyfa.org.