About Us
        The Athena Cultural and Educational Foundation was established in Houston, United States, initiated by distinguished individuals with international influence in the field of world culture and arts. The foundation aims to promote the discovery and integration of the intrinsic spirit of human culture and arts. Through the establishment of the Athena Award, alliances, scholarships, and other diverse services, it encourages and assists anyone who loves art and culture and possesses exceptional inner spirit. Regardless of differences in skin color, language, ethnicity, geographical location, time, or wealth, everyone has the opportunity to discover, enhance, showcase, and pursue their dreams, making them an indispensable part of human art, culture, and inner spirit.
        “To infuse spirit into art, and nurture art with spirit, discovering and transmitting the inner spirit of art. Encouraging and assisting anyone who loves art and culture, and possesses exceptional inner spirit, regardless of differences in skin color, language, ethnicity, geographical location, time, or wealth, providing everyone with the opportunity to discover, enhance, showcase, and pursue their dreams.”
                                                                        ——Chairman of the Athena Cultural and Educational Foundation

Award Categories
        The Athena Dance Art Award comprises three major categories: Best Dance Art Award, Best Dance Performance Award, and Best Dance Choreography Award. These three categories are divided into three groups, with evaluations taking place every two years. Each group includes the following awards:
        -Best Dance Art Award: 1 winner ($1000 cash prize, award certificate, and trophy), 6 nominees.
        -Best Dance Performance Award: 1 winner ($500 cash prize, award certificate, and trophy), 6 nominees.
        -Best Dance Choreography Award: 1 winner ($500 cash prize, award certificate, and trophy), 6 nominees.
        The award judging committee is composed of members from the Athena Cultural and Educational Foundation and specially invited directors and commissioners. Award recipients will receive certificates, medals, and cash prizes jointly issued by the rotating chairman and chairman of the Athena Cultural and Educational Foundation.
        Furthermore, each finalist, regardless of whether they win or not, can apply for an artwork evaluation (Artistic Guide) certificate bearing the signature of the award committee through the necessary procedures.

Eligibility
        The Athena Dance Art Award is open to individuals from all walks of life worldwide, regardless of status, economic background, age, gender, language, ethnicity, nationality, or geographic location. Based on age differences, there are three evaluation groups:
        -Age 8-11 yrs: Junior Group, ages 8-11
        -Age 12-16 yrs: Youth Group, ages 12-16
        -Age 17+ yrs: Adult Group, ages 17 and above

Schedule
        The selection process consists of three stages: Application, Finalist Selection, and Committee Evaluation.
        -Application Stage: From July 1, 2023, to October 31, 2023, entries for the award will be accepted.
        -Finalist Selection Stage: From November 1, 2023, to December 15, 2023, the finalists will be selected.
Committee Evaluation Stage: From December 16, 2023, to December 24, 2023, the committee will evaluate the finalists.
        The official announcement of the awards will be made on December 31, 2023.
Note: 
        During the Committee Evaluation stage, each finalist will receive a notification email from the award committee. Upon necessary procedures, finalists can apply to the committee to obtain an artwork evaluation certificate (Artistic Guide) bearing the committee’s signature. Regardless of winning or not, the “Artistic Guide” will be sent to the applicants in written form after the official announcement of the awards, serving as an evaluative guide for their submitted works.
        The “Artistic Guide” requires a separate service fee, but it is not a necessary condition for the final evaluation or a prerequisite for winning. Applicants are free to decide based on their own needs. Specific details will be provided in the notification email.

Jury Committee
        The Jury Committee consists of the rotating chairman and members of the Athena Cultural and Educational Foundation.

Election Rules
        -The dance genre, category, and duration of the entries are not limited.
        -Both individuals and groups can apply.
        -Participants are responsible for providing their own costumes, props, and music.
        -Please indicate the choreographer and the information of the applying organization.
        -Submit a dance video work and complete the registration with a “Dance Description” of the work.
Note: For non-English-speaking countries, the finalists’ dance works must submit a full English version of the “Dance Description” during the Committee Evaluation stage. If translation is difficult, participants can apply for additional language support services from the award committee. However, participants are required to bear the necessary language service fees, which will be decided upon receiving the finalist notification email.

Application and Fee Waiver
        The “Athena Dance Art Award” does not charge any application fees. Anyone can submit their application for consideration to the award committee via the official designated email address of the “Athena Dance Art Award.”
        During the final selection stage, participants can choose to avail themselves of additional services such as “Artistic Guide” and “Language Support” based on their own circumstances and pay the corresponding service fees.
Note: The technical service fees for the “Artistic Guide” and “Language Support” are collected by authorized third parties. These fees do not determine whether one wins the award or not. Participants are free to decide whether or not to pay these fees after receiving the finalist notification email, based on their own needs.

Application Method
        Please send the dance entries via email to the official and exclusive email address of the “Athena Dance Art Award”: Athena.foundation@outlook.com
        Dance video entries can be submitted as compressed attachments (file size should be less than 200MB) or in the form of video links or cloud storage links. The email subject should follow the format: Dance Work “<Title>”, Performer <Name>, Applying for the Athena Dance Art Award. For example: Dance Work “Bridge of Rainbow,” Performer Alice, Applying for the Athena Dance Art Award.
        In the email content, in addition to including a “Dance Description” (within 1000 words), please provide the real names, genders, nationalities, dates of birth, professions, mailing addresses, as well as important contact information such as phone numbers and email addresses of the actual dance creators, performers, and choreographers.
        For non-English-speaking countries, the finalists must submit an English translation of the “Dance Description” at the latest during the Committee Evaluation stage. Specific details will be provided in the finalist notification email.
        For more details on the application and award announcements, please visit the official website of the Athena Cultural and Educational Foundation.

Election Commitment
        The dance entries must be original works, and the copyright and intellectual property rights belong to the creators themselves. The entries must not involve plagiarism or infringement of others’ copyrights.
        The organizer is not responsible for any legal disputes arising from rights such as reputation, privacy, copyright, or trademark. The legal responsibility lies with the participants themselves, but the organizer reserves the right to use the entries for media promotion.
        For award-winning works, unless otherwise specified, the Athena Cultural and Educational Foundation retains all usage rights and full media promotion rights for the winning works. The foundation will actively create opportunities for the winners, including cooperation invitations from internationally renowned artistic programs, performance organizations, art schools, as well as opportunities for global artistic exchanges, further education, and learning.