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ACT and JTI collaborate on new Lifetime Achievement Award

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This year the Arts & Culture Trust (ACT) reaches yet another milestone as its annual ACT Awards programme grows from strength to strength.

Celebrating 21 years of existence and 18 years of the ACT Awards in 2015, South Africa’s premier independent arts funding and development agency is excited to announce an additional category in the prestigious Lifetime Achievements Awards. Not only is ACT delighted to have the Dance Lifetime Achievement Award debut at this year’s ceremony but they are also excited to have Japan Tobacco International (JTI) come on board to support this specific accolade.

Today ACT announced the allocation of the Dance Lifetime Achievement Award which will be presented for the first time in the history of the awards, since their establishment in 1998. This is a monumental step from what began with one accolade being handed out for the first nine years of the awards, and gradually became five categories in a space of six years thereafter. This year, Dance will be added to the existing Lifetime Achievement Awards categories which include: Visual Arts, Theatre, Arts Advocacy, Music and Literature.

Sharing his views on the new partnership and award, ACT CEO Pieter Jacobs says: “The aim of the ACT Awards has always been to celebrate and acknowledge excellence and without this prestigious ceremony many luminaries who have been celebrated globally, would not be acknowledged for their valuable contributions locally. We saw it fit that this category be added going forth because our country has produced remarkable talent and individuals who have pioneered this trade both locally and abroad. We are also equally honoured to be in partnership with a brand such as JTI in honouring these mavens.”

The ACT awards also honour young professionals who have made great strides in the first five years of their careers and one of the focuses, and by far the biggest element of the event, is the Lifetime Achievement Awards segment. This prestigious part of the occasion is dedicated to celebrating individuals who have made a profound influence and contributed significantly to the enrichment of the arts and culture environment in South Africa during their lives.

Noting the new Lifetime Achievement Award for Dance, JTI’s Corporate Affairs and Legal Director Lizette Rau says: “JTI is thrilled to have partnered with ACT in introducing this award. Dance, in South Africa and abroad, is perhaps the most under-recognised and un-awarded of the arts disciplines. South Africa’s dancers and choreographers make a profound contribution to the local and international dance landscape and we thank ACT for affording JTI the opportunity to give them the recognition they so richly deserve.”

The Awards are set to take place on 2 November 2015 at Sun International’s The Maslow in Sandton, Johannesburg. For more information visit www.act.org.za

 

Lizette Rau shedding light on JTI's support for the new Lifetime Achievement Award for Dance. Picture by Dahlia Maubane
Lizette Rau shedding light on JTI’s support for the new Lifetime Achievement Award for Dance. Picture by Dahlia Maubane

Author: Gilly Hemphill
Website: http://www.thefamousidea.co.za/

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