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Choreographer/Director/Writer Donald McKayle has been named by the Dance Heritage Coalition "one of America's Irreplaceable Dance Treasures." He has choreographed over 90 works for dance companies in the United States, Canada, Israel, Europe, and South America. In 2005 he was honored at the John F. Kennedy Center with a medal as a Master of African American Choreography. Five Tony Nominations have honored his choreography for Broadway musical theater: Sophisticated Ladies, Doctor Jazz, A Time for Singing, and Raisin, which garnered the Tony Award as Best Musical. His dance awards include the Capezio Award, American Dance Guild Award, Living Legend Award/National Black Arts Festival, National Endowment for the Arts, Dance Masters of America, Dance Magazine Award, and American Dance Legacy Institute's Distinguished & Innovative Leadership Award. Mr. McKayle has served on the faculty of numerous international institutions and some of the most prestigious colleges and universities in America. He is currently a Professor of Dance at the University of California, Irvine.

Renowned Theater, Opera, Festival Director Peter Sellars is one of the most innovative and powerful forces in the performing arts in America and abroad. Known for his groundbreaking interpretations of classic works, Sellars strikes a universal chord with audiences, engaging contemporary social and political issues. He has staged operas at Chicago Lyric Opera, the Glyndebourne Festival, Netherlands Opera, Opéra National de Paris, the Salzburg Festival, and San Francisco Opera, among others. Mr. Sellars has led major arts festivals, including the Los Angeles Festival, the Adelaide Festival in Australia; and the Venice Biennale International Festival of Theater, Italy. Sellars is the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, the Erasmus Prize, the Sundance Institute Risk-Takers Award, the Gish Prize, and was recently elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Mr. Sellars is a Professor in the Department of World Arts and Cultures at UCLA and a resident curator of the Telluride Film Festival.