ARTS

Bessies Go On: The Dance Theater Workshop’s Bessie Awards, which honor innovation in dance and performance work, will go on as planned despite the withdrawal of performance artist Karen Finley as a host, the workshop’s director said at a Thursday press conference. On Wednesday, Finley pulled out of the awards set for the Brooklyn Academy of Music on Sept. 12 because a sponsor of the ceremony, Philip Morris Inc., is a supporter of Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.). “Helms’ blatant homophobia is one of the main instigators for the crisis in the NEA (the National Endowment for the Arts),” Finley declared in her withdrawal statement. Her own grant appeal was rejected by the NEA.