Chita Rivera Awards Winners Announced

Winners of the 2024 Chita Rivera Awards were announced last night. In keeping with the mission of the Chita Rivera Awards, which is to celebrate dance and choreographic excellence, preserve notable dance history, recognize past, present, and future talents, while promoting high standards in dance education and investing in the next generation, nominators considered outstanding choreography, featured dancers, and ensembles in shows on Broadway as well as outstanding choreography in film that opened during the 2023-2024 season.

Presented at NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, the Chita Rivera Awards are produced by Joe Lanteri, Founder and Executive Director of the New York City Dance Alliance Foundation Inc., in conjunction with Patricia Watt.

At this year’s Chita Rivera Awards, Bernadette Peters received the Lifetime Achievement Award and Mayte Natalio (Suffs) received the Douglas and Ethel Watt Critics’ Choice Award.

As was the case last year, the Outstanding Dancer in a Broadway Show category is gender-free. This category has twice as many nominees as the former gendered categories and there are two winners.

All proceeds of the Chita Rivera Awards benefit the NYC Dance Alliance Foundation Scholarship Program. This year, all funding and proceeds will support the creation of a new Chita Rivera Training Scholarship.

The 2024 Chita Rivera Award winners are listed below in bold.

OUTSTANDING CHOREOGRAPHY IN A BROADWAY SHOW
Camille A Brown, Hell’s Kitchen (tie)
Julia Cheng, Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club
Rick and Jeff Kuperman, The Outsiders
Lorin Latarro, The Heart of Rock and Roll / The Who’s Tommy (joint nomination)
Justin Peck, Illinoise
Jesse Robb and Shana Carroll, Water for Elephants (tie)

OUTSTANDING DANCER IN A BROADWAY SHOW
Antoine Boissereau, Water for Elephants
Ben Cook, Illinoise
Chloe Davis, Hell’s Kitchen
Gaby Diaz, Illinoise
Tilly Evans-Krueger, The Outsiders
Rachel Lockhart, Illinoise
Phillip Johnson Richardson, The Wiz
Byron Tittle, Illinoise
Ricky Ubeda, Illinoise
Avery Wilson, The Wiz

OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE IN A BROADWAY SHOW
Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club
Hell’s Kitchen
Illinoise
The Heart of Rock and Roll
The Outsiders
Water for Elephants

FILM & DOCUMENTARY

OUTSTANDING CHOREOGRAPHY IN A THEATRICAL RELEASE
Barbie, Choreographer: Jennifer White
Carmen, Choreographer: Benjamin Millepied / Marina Tamayo
Color Purple, Choreographer: Fatima Robinson
Mean Girls, Choreographer: Kyle Hanagami
Wonka, Choreographer: Christopher Gattell

OUTSTANDING DIRECTION OF A DANCE DOCUMENTARY
Daughters, Directors: Angela Patton / Natalie Rae
Eldorado: Everything the Nazis Hate, Directors: Benjamin Cantu / Matt Lambert
Lift, Director: David Petersen
Studio One Forever, Director: Marc Saltarelli
Swan Song, Director: Chelsea McMullan

2023-2024 CHITA RIVERA AWARD NOMINATING COMMITTEES

Awarding Committee
Chair: Sylviane Gold, Gary Chryst, Robert LaFosse, Wendy Perron, and Lee Roy Reams

Broadway Nominating Committee
Chair: Wendy Federman, Caitlin Carter, Gary Chryst, Don Correia, Jamie deRoy, Sandy Duncan, Peter Filichia, Dr. Louis Galli, Sylviane Gold, Jonathan Herzog, Robert La Fosse, Joe Lanteri, Michael Milton, Mary Beth O’Connor, Wendy Perron, Lee Roy Reams, Andy Sandberg, and Randy Skinner

Film Nominating Committee
Chair: Jonathan C. Herzog, Steven Caras, Wilhelmina Frankfurt, Mary Beth O’Connor, and Andy Sandberg