Tonight marks the beginning of The A.W.A.R.D. Show! at On the Boards. Over four evenings, 12 contemporary dance groups and solo performers will compete for a $10,000 award, decided by an audience and panel voting process. The finalists perform on Sunday night, with the panelists including Pat Graney, Jen Salk, Amelia Reeber, and Linda Shelton. Marcie Sillman will moderate a Q&A after each show. Tickets for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are already sold out*, but you can still buy them for tonight's show (hurry!), featuring zoe | juniper, The Cherdonna and Lou Show, Crispin Spaeth, and Shannon Mockli.

Seattle's inaugural A.W.A.R.D. Show, in 2009, stirred up quite a discussion about the role of competition and popularity in the arts. Read more about that here and here.

*You can call or stop by OtB to be placed on the waiting list.