Dance Source Houston Announces SPARK 2024 Honorees

Dance Source Houston is excited to announce the individuals to be honored at SPARK: In Bloom on March 2 at MATCH. In recognition of their dedication to dance in our city, Lori Amare-Bujung will be presented with the Dance Source Houston Artistic Honor and Jane Weiner will be presented with the Giannelli Service Award. 

Amare-Bujung and Weiner will be joined by members and patrons of the Greater Houston dance community at SPARK for an evening of celebration, with funds benefitting Dance Source Houston programs. The evening will include light bites, drinks, raffle packages, and of course, dancing. 

“We are thrilled to shine a light on Lori and Jane,” said DSH Executive Director Mollie Haven Miller. “The 2024 honorees are known for the power of their work on stages and in studios and classrooms. We look forward to celebrating their passion alongside many of the individuals who have been impacted by their work in dance, as students, performers, colleagues, and audience members.”

Lori Amare-Bujungbegan her training in dance with Allie Belle Thomas who gave her a love of ballet.  She later trained with Frank Hatchett who gave her the opportunity to dance off-Broadway and train with professionals such as Rick Odums, and Maurice Hines.  

Bujung later joined the Kuumba House Dance Theatre where she taught, became a company dancer, and later moved into leadership, as company tour manager, school director, and grant writer. She also danced with Several Dancers Core, Texas Dance Theatre, and local productions like the “Music of Motown,” and several productions with the Ensemble Theater. She founded Second Generation Dance Company where she was able to choreograph several dynamic dance works and promote culture through dance.  

Amare-Bujung received a BFA in Dance from Sam Houston State University and an MFA in Dance from Hollins University. She taught at Houston Community College for five years and is in her 19th year teaching for Houston Independent School District.

Jane Weinerestablished Hope Stone, Inc. in 1997 with a dream to unlock the innate creativity of children and adults through the arts. Graduating from Bowling Green State University with a degree in deaf/elementary education and minor in dance, Jane worked with the Doug Elkins Dance Company in New York City for a decade plus of dancing and touring before her move to Houston in 1996. She has set work on the Alley Theater, Houston Ballet II, Stages Repertory Theater, the Houston Children’s Museum, as well as many universities, and has collaborated with the Houston Symphony, the CAMH, and the Asia Society, and was a speaker at the 2012 TEDx Houston and 2013 TEDx TAMU. 

She is the Artistic Director of Hope Stone Dance and directs The Hope Project, Hope Stone’s mindful arts education outreach program.

Awardees were selected through an open nomination process, followed by a committee review by members of the local dance community, and a final selection by Dance Source Houston’s board of directors. Individuals were nominated based on the sustained impact of their contributions to the Greater Houston dance community.

The 2024 honorees will be the second pair of local leaders to receive these two recognitions. Last year the organization honored 2023 Dance Source Houston Artistic Honoree Rathna Kumar and 2023 Giannelli Service Awardee Maxine Silberstein.

Tickets for SPARK: In Bloom are on sale now at matchouston.org.