Meet Joe Lanteri: Executive director and founder of the NYC Dance Alliance

Joe Lanteri. Photo Courtesy of the 2024 Chita Rivera Awards.

Joe Lanteri is the executive director and founder of the NYC Dance Alliance. He is also a producer of the 2024 Chita Rivera Awards.

Mr. Lanteri participated in a nominees reception with the press at Bond 45 in Manhattan on Monday, May 6th, along with this year’s nominated ensemble performers.

The 2024 Chita Rivera Awards  will be presented on Monday, May 20 at the NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts. The awards are produced Joe Lanteri, in conjunction with Patricia Watt.

Bernadette Peters will be honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award, which will be presented by Joel Grey.

Instilling a true sense of community

Lanteri discussed the sense of community that these awards bring, which are presented in honor of the iconic Chita Rivera, who passed away at the age of 91 earlier this year.

On producing the 2024 Chita Rivera Awards, Lanteri said, “It is an honor for me quite honestly, and the fact that we are doing them this year without Chita is very, very difficult but we are committed to celebrating her life and her legacy, and we will make sure to do it for many years to come.”

“What is amazing about the Chita Rivera Awards is that we are the only award show that truly recognizes dance on Broadway, so that is important,” he said.

“Also, the sense of community that this award brings. When you bring dancers together, there is a true sense of community because there is such a love and respect for each other.”

Lessons learned from producing the Chita Rivera Awards

On the lessons learned from producing this award ceremony, he remarked, “It is really about not emphasizing the award; it is about emphasizing the work. It’s about the process and the community that we share in making all of this happen.”

Lanteri on success

Regarding his definition of the word success, Lanteri said, “Success is literally waking up every day and allowing yourself to share your time and space with people that you love doing something creative and looking forward to doing it again tomorrow.”