DEADLINE for 2024: April 1, 2024.

The Ellen Forman Memorial Fund Award (the "Award") of the Philadelphia Foundation was established as a memorial to Ellen Forman, who was a dancer, choreographer and educator for over twenty years in the Philadelphia area. To honor the memory of Ellen Forman's contribution to the dance community, the Ellen Forman Memorial Award Fund and Drexel University provide an Award to a Philadelphia area choreographer to set an original or reconstructed work as part of the Drexel University Dance Ensemble during the 2024-2025 Academic year. The fund is administered by The Philadelphia Foundation and Award decisions are made with the advice of the Ellen Forman Memorial Award Advisory Committee. EFMA encourages applicants who represent diversity in culture, ethnicity, age and gender.

The Ellen Forman Memorial Award for 2024-2025 will consist of:

• A $2,500 cash award ($2,000 from EFMA & $500 from Drexel)
• Payment by Drexel of the production costs of the performance in Drexel's Mandell Theater, rehearsal space in the Ellen Forman Memorial Dance Studio at Drexel University, costs of costumes and any necessary sets or props not to exceed $750, digital sound editing/digital video recording of the performance

QUALIFICATIONS FOR ELIGIBILITY

To be eligible to receive the Award, applicants must:

• Be professional choreographers who are currently working in the fields of modern dance or performance art
• Reside in the Philadelphia five-county area
• Not be a full-time student
• Apply as an individual or a team

CRITERIA USED IN JUDGING APPLICATIONS

The Committee assesses each applicant according to the following criteria:

• Philosophy of work
• Artistic vision articulated
• Quality of presentation materials including a work sample
• Creativity and excellence as shown in a video sample relevant to the project description (5 minutes). If at all possible, please include choreography created for a group of performers rather than solo and duet works.
• Evidence of the following qualities, particularly characteristic of Ellen Forman's work:

• Innovative
• Multidisciplinary
• Risk-Taking

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD

Applicants for the Award must submit by email an electronic proposal which includes:

• A statement no longer than one page describing the applicant's philosophy of work and a description of proposed project
• A resume no longer than two pages which can include a list of prior awards received

Applicants must also submit one (1) video of the applicant's own choreography (5 minutes). The video must be:

• Viewable on YouTube or Vimeo
• Easily viewable
• Accompanied with a separate sheet noting the following information about the video:

• The title, date, and venue of the piece
• The names of all performers in the piece
• The actual length of the full piece
• A short paragraph (no longer than half a page) about the piece and why the applicant chose it to represent his or her work

Applicants may be disqualified if applications are incomplete.

ALL APPLICATIONS SHOULD BE EMAILED TO:

Becky Malcolm-Naib
bm3353@drexel.edu
Dance Ensemble and FreshDance Director
Attention: Ellen Forman Award

APPLICATIONS MUST BE EMAILED BY April 1, 2024

THE RECIPIENT WILL BE ANNOUNCED IN MAY OF 2024

IRS CODE REQUIRES THAT AWARDS ARE TAXABLE

Applicants with questions may contact Linda Reichert at foursheep1@gmail.com

FORMER EFMA AWARDEES:

• 1993 Lisa Bardarson
• 1994 Faye Kahn
• 1995 Madeline Cantor
• 1996 Leah Stein
• 1997 Dale Schmid
• 1998 Lisa Lovelace
• 1999 Eric Schoeffer
• 2000 Heather Murphy
• 2002 Louise Gillette
• 2003 Victoria McGuigan
• 2006 Nichole Canuso
• 2007 Megan Mazarick
• 2008 Kun-Yang Lin
• 2009 Jumatatu Poe
• 2010 Nora Gibson
• 2011 Bronwen MacArthur
• 2012 Kariamu Welsh
• 2013 Lauren Putty White
• 2014 Beau Hancock
• 2015 Shaness D. Kemp
• 2016 Nicole Bindler
• 2017 Evalina “Wally” Carbonell
• 2018 Dara Stevens Meredith
• 2019 Iquail Shaheed
• 2020 Gabrielle Revlock
• 2021 Emma Girandola
• 2022 Rebecca Malcolm-Naib
• 2023 Kareem Goodwin