Standard Bank Gold and Silver Ovation Awards announced on final day of National Arts Festival 4 July 2010.
The Standard Bank Ovation Awards were introduced this year to recognise excellence on the National Arts Festival Fringe programme, and aimed to seek out those productions that stand out from the crowd and are innovative, original and creatively outstanding.
"The Standard Bank Ovation Awards have raised the bar for Fringe performers in a significant way,” said Festival CEO Tony Lankester. “For the first time in a long while we have an awards programme at the Festival that acknowledges and rewards those for whom the annual pilgrimage to Grahamstown is an often unrewarded labour of love," he added.
Nominations for the awards came from any of the approximately 500 journalists who were accredited for this year’s Festival. When the production received sufficient nominations, members of the judging panel went to see it. Winners were announced every day in Cue, and the wining productions were given Ovation Award stickers to display on their posters and marketing material for the remainder of the Festival.
Today, the winners of each of the categories were announced, and the Gold winners received a prize of R5 000, while the Silver winners received a R1 000 each.
The 2010 Gold Award winners are:
Theatre: LONDON ROAD (KBT Productions)
Physical Theatre: BUTCHER BROTHERS (Dark Laugh Theatre)
Dance: GRADUATION RITES (Tshwane University of Technology)
Comedy: DEKAF (David Newton Productions)
Music: GUY BUTTERY
The 2010 Silver Award Winners are:
Theatre
KAROO MOOSE (Baxter Theatre Centre in association with MOPO Productions
...MISKIEN The Pink Counch
BREED Ubom! Eastern Cape Drama Company
Physical Theatre
ELEV(I)ATE2 (Athena Mazarakis)
INUA (Baba Yaga Theatre – Denmark)
LIQUID PROJECT (for Bloodshot and System Dop)
Music
NIBS VAN DER SPUY
MERI KENAZ
The Encore Award, awarded to a young company performing at the Festival for the first time, which shows great promise for the future and which the Festival hopes will return in years to come went to The Soil (Vumile Nomanyama).
The Standing Ovation Award, presented for a company that has over a sustained period of time, contributed to the overall standard of excellence on the Fringe, went to Theatre for Afrika (Nick and Luke Ellenbogen)

Note to editors
Complete list of 2010 Standard Bank Ovation Award winners
AMA-NO-GAWAFirst Physical Theatre Company & Frauke,
BEAUTY THERAPY Mamba Productions,
BIG BOYS DON’T DANCE Follow Spot Productions,
BLOOD ORANGE Untouchable Productions,
BOSTON MARRIAGE Kickstart Theatre
BREED Ubom! Eastern Cape Drama Company
BUTCHER BROTHERS Dark Laugh Theatre
CONVINCING CARLOS What Not Entertainment
DEEP FREEZING,
DEKAF David Newton Productions
D-SEVEN: FRESH A CAPELLA,
ELEV(I)ATE2 Athena Mazarakis,
EXTRA-ORDINARY Lucy Hind & Dave Toole,
GRADUATION RITES Tshwane University of Technology,
GUY BUTTERY
HIGH DIVING Weekend Special Theatre,
I LOVE YOU, YOU’RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE Big Leaf Productions,
INUA Baba Yaga Theatre (Denmark),
KAROO MOOSE Baxter Theatre Centre in association with MOPO Productions,
LONDON ROAD KBT Productions
MEIN SOLDAT Thin Skin,
MERI KENAZ - IN A MOMENT,
...MISKIEN The Pink Couch,
NCAMISA! THE WOMEN Hearts & Eyes Theatre Collective,
NIBS VAN DER SPUY
OUTSIDE THE NEW,
PICTURES OF YOU Conspiracy of Clowns,
RUMPSTEAK Theatre Bazaar,
SAME BUT NOT DIFFERENT Ntsoana Contemporary Dance Theatre,
SITTING AROUND THE FIRE Zinosa Enterprise
STEVE NEWMAN, ASHISH JOSHI, GREG GEORGIADES &
MARC DUBY,
SYSTEM DOP Liquid Project,
THE EYE OF THE STORM Sibikwa Arts,
THE SOIL Vumile Nomanyama,
TIN BUCKET DRUM Think Theatre Productions
2010 Standard Bank Ovation Awards Panel
Panel Convener - Adrienne Sichel (Theatre Journalist)
Mary Corrigal (Sunday Independent)
Karabo Kgoleng (SAfm)
Laetitia Pople (Die Burger)
Mary Jordan (Business Day)
Cornelia le Roux (Herald)
Robyn Sassen (Jewish Report)
Caroline Smart (ArtSmart)
Zingi Mkefa (Sunday Times & Radio Today)
Siyabonga Mposula (University of Johannesburg Observer)
Illa Thompson (Publicity Matters)
Sharlene Versveld (Sharlene Versveld and Associates)
Atiyyah Kahn (Argus Tonight)
Theresa Smith (The Star Tonight)
Yvette Hardie (ASSITEJ SA)
Tony Lankester (National Arts Festival (Comedy/Music))
Michelle Constant (SAfm (Music))

The National Arts Festival is sponsored by Standard Bank, The Eastern Cape Government, The National Arts Council, The National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund, The Sunday Independent and M Net.
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Visit the website for further information www.nationalartsfestival.co.za

About the National Arts Festival: The National Arts Festival, now in its 36th year, has proved its sustainability and has grown to be one of the leading arts festivals in southern Africa. Its objectives are to deliver excellence; encourage innovation and development in the arts by providing a platform for both established and emerging South African artists; create opportunities for collaboration with international artists; and build new audiences.