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| JAZZ DANCE LA 2000 JDLA Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award The premiere of the Jazz Dance LA 2000 showcase concert at the Luckman Fine Arts Complex, Cal State L.A., on September 29 and 30 will feature the debut of a new jazz ballet by Alex Magno, plus works by three-time Tony Award-winner Hinton Battle and some of L.A.'s finest choreographers. On opening night Friday, September 29, the Jazz Dance LA (JDLA) Foundation will present a Lifetime Achievement Award to George Chakiris, Oscar and Golden Globe Award-winner for his portrayal of Bernardo in the film version of West Side Story. Jazz Dance LA 2000, the sixth annual choreography showcase of the JDLA Foundation, celebrates the art of jazz dance in all its forms. In a city with a reputation as an "Entertainment Town," this concert spotlights past, present and future artists who make an impact with jazz dance in Hollywood and beyond. Founded by a Japanese-American, Hama, and co-directed by an African-American, Claude Thompson, this showcase embodies the diversity of Los Angeles and celebrates the uniting force of art. Featured in the concert will be a ballet by Brazilian native Alex Magno which takes a contemporary look at the Romeo and Juliet story. Los Angeles-based Magno has choreographed for TV, film, video, and stage, including the 62nd Academy Awards, Madonna's "Girlie Show Tour" and the 1998 world tour of the Parisian "Lido Show." In addition to Magno, partipating artists will include a lineup of leading choreographers, as well as teachers from the top professional studios in L.A. and New York: Hinton Battle, a triple Tony Award-winner for Sophisticated Ladies, Tap Dance Kid, and Miss Saigon; Cate Caplin and Murray Phillips; Michael Owens; Ka-Ron Brown Lehman; Doug Caldwell; Kenji Yamaguchi; Jackie Sleight; Jamie Nichols; Keny Long; Terri Best; Bill Goodson; Eartha D. Robinson; Deborah Brockus; Rei Aoo; and new choreographers Maria Del Bagno and Johanna Sapakie. About Jazz Dance LA Claude Thompson is the co-artistic director of Jazz Dance LA. After graduating from New York's High School of the Performing Arts, his professional career has spanned over 35 years in TV, film, and stage. He appeared as a dancer in seven Broadway shows, and danced in the companies of Louis Johnson, Tally Beatty, and Donald McKayle, and the first Alvin Ailey company. As a choreographer, he has received a Drama Critics Award, and was the first recipient of an NAACP Image Award for Choreography. His work has been seen nationally in Roots and The Color Purple. The Lehman Foundation honored him for Lifetime Achievement in Dance, and in 1996 he received the Dance Educator of the Year Award from the Bob Fosse Awards (now the American Choreography Awards).
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