the recipients of this prestigious award include martha graham (1981), merce cunningham (1982), paul taylor (1983), hanya holm (1984), alwin nikolais (1985), katherine dunham (1986), alvin ailey (1987), erick hawkins (1988), doris humphrey, charles weidman and jose limón (1989), twyla tharp (1990), anna sokolow (1991), donald mckayle (1992), talley beatty (1993), trisha brown (1994), pearl primus and helen tamiris (1995), meredith monk (1996), anna halprin (1997), fayard and harold nicholas (1998), pina bausch (1999), pilobolus dance theatre (2000), garth fagan (2001), maguy marin (2003), the japanese-born dance duo eiko and koma (2004), bill t. jones (2005), murray louis (2006), and mark morris (2007).