Choreographers Katie Faulkner and Hope Mohr sent the below letter to the Isadora Duncan Dance Awards Committee (“Izzies”) on March 21, 2020.
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Dear Izzies,
We hope this finds you holding up in these uncertain and challenging times.
Thank you for your recent response to our email.
We have great respect for everyone on the Izzies committee and for all the work you do on behalf of dance in the Bay Area. Thank you so much. We are writing because, as you know, all of this year's nominees in the Izzie category for best choreography are white. As nominees, our careers and our lives have benefitted from white privilege. Recognizing the racial diversity of the Bay Area dance community and in solidarity with Bay Area choreographers of color, we respectfully decline our Izzie nominations. We do so with the hope of catalyzing dialogue in the dance community around the issue of implicit racial bias and to stand up for racial equity.
We invite you to share this statement publicly and at the ceremony.
If you feel it would be healing and productive, we would still welcome the chance to be in dialogue with the Izzies Committee and to work with you in crafting further responses to these important issues.
With gratitude and in community,
Katie Faulkner and Hope Mohr