Awards

2011 Eighth Annual Miami Dance Festival Awards

Each year the Miami Dance Festival presents an award to honor the unsung heroes who have made significant contributions toward the advancement of dance in the South Florida area.

 

This year, the Miami Dance Festival Award was presented to Deborah Margol, Deputy Director of the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs. “Deborah truly is one of the unsung heroes of our arts community” observes Miami Dance Festival Director Delma Iles. “She is always there working quietly behind the scenes, putting out fires and solving problems. She somehow finds the magic to make the county’s cultural budget come together every year and has been instrumental in starting the new Artburst Miami Media Service, which has provided the best writing about dance and professional criticism we have seen since 1994. No matter how busy she is, she always makes tome to help out arts groups in need. We are very proud to present this year’s Miami Dance Festival Award to Deborah – no one could deserve it more!”

 

Previous Festival awards have been presented to: Laura Bruney, Director of the Arts and Business Council, Dr. Diane Brownholtz, educator at Miami Dade College, dance teacher and coach Mariana Alvarez; the team of people who made the development of the Byron  Carlyle Theater possible: Nancy Liebman, Brad Judd, Jose Smith, Eric Fliss, & Bernard Zyscovich; dance teacher and community activist Florene Nichols; dance teacher and creator of the Miami International Ballet Festival Pedro Pablo Pena; Dance Supervisor for Miami Dade County Public Schools Virginia Shuker; Artistic Director of the Thomas Armour Youth Ballet Ruth Weisen, Bill Doolin of the Florida Dance Association, and the Performance Journalism Project.

   

 

The Miami Dance Festival has been made possible with support from: the National Endowment for the Arts, Southern Arts Federation, the Miami Dade Department of Cultural Affairs and the Board of County Commissioners, the Miami Beach Cultural Arts Council and the City of Miami Beach Mayor and Board of Commissioners, the City of Coral Gables, Citizens Interested in Arts, WLRN Public Radio, FundArte, the Miami Beach Botanical Garden, the Miami Beach Cinematheque, the DoubleTree Hilton.