Country United Kingdom | First awarded 1953 | |
Awarded for Outstanding contributions to dance Presented by Michael Stylianos and Lorna Lee | ||
The Carl Alan Awards is an awards event held annually in the United Kingdom and honouring people who have made a significant contribution to the dance and theatre industry, such as teachers, performers and choreographers. They have been dubbed "the Oscars of the dance world" and are presented by the Michael Stylianos and Lorna Lee, in co-ordination with the Theatre Dance Council International.
Overview
The Carl Alan Awards were first presented in 1953 by the former Mecca Entertainment Company. Mecca once owned the most extensive network of dance halls and entertainment venues in Britain and the awards are named after the company's joint Chairmen, Carl Heimann and Alan Fairley. Mecca presented the awards annually until 1984, but they were not presented again until 1993, when they were revived and presented by Butlins. Organisation of the awards changed hands again in 2000, when they were presented by the Stage Dance Council, and again in 2001, when they were presented by Dance News Special Projects Ltd, with sponsorship from the IDTA. After 2005 and 2006 saw no awards ceremony being held, the IDTA took over the responsibility of organising and presenting the awards. The IDTA have presented the awards every year since 2007, with the administration of the awards being shared with the Theatre Dance Council International.
Each year, all recognised dance associations and societies in the UK are invited to make nominations in each category. A delegate from each organisation then joins a selection committee who shortlist the final nominees and the winner of each category is then decided by a ballot. Whilst the awards are hosted by the IDTA, the organisation remains independent in the selection process.
Awards are presented for achievement in the following three dance disciplines:
Five awards are given in each dance discipline: