The Chita Rivera Awards, an annual ceremony which acknowledges achievement in dance and choreography, will be held on May 18 at the NYU Skirball Center for the Arts. The awards encompass categories for choreography, featured dancers and ensembles in Broadway productions, Off-Broadway productions and films that opened in the 2025-2026 season. The date of a nominations announcement, the dates defining the 2025-2026 season across the three fields and the cut-off date for nominators to see eligible shows will be announced in the coming weeks.
Broadway and film will have separate nominating committees. A third committee, the awarding committee, will choose winners in the Broadway and film categories from the nominees. The awarding committee will also select recipients in noncompetitive Off-Broadway categories. Film winners will be chosen by the nominating committee.
An additional noncompetitive honor for Outstanding Contribution to the Arts and Humanities will be announced in advance of the ceremony. In past years, noncompetitive honors for Lifetime Achievement and Outstanding Contribution to Musical Theater have been awarded; it will be decided in the coming weeks if these honors are to be presented in 2026.
Established in 1982 under the name the Fred and Adele Astaire Awards, the citations were renamed in 2017 to honor 10-time Tony Award-nominated performer Chita Rivera. Rivera won two Tonys, the first in 1984 for “The Rink” and then again in 1993 for “Kiss of the Spider Woman.” In 2018, she received the special Tony Award for lifetime achievement. Rivera passed away in 2024.
The Chita Rivera Awards benefit the NYC Dance Alliance Foundation College Scholarship Program. According to the organization, since the inception of the foundation, over $5.4 million has been awarded to over 600 dancers attending 50 of the most prestigious college dance programs in the country.
The Chita Rivera Awards is being produced by Joe Lanteri, founder and executive director of the foundation, in conjunction with Patricia Watt.
