100 Women We Love

by Melody Wells, editor

July 10, 2008

Tags: 100 women we love, activists, annie leibovitz, artists, cynthia nixon, daniela sea, entrepeneurs, god-des and she, heather matarazzo, jackie warner, jane lynch, kate clinton, lesbian, martina navratilova, melissa etheridge, politicians, suze orman

Ellie Covan
Founder of Dixon Place, Covan began hosting performances in her East Village storefront apartment in 1986. Twenty-one years later, it’s a cultural institution in experimental performance that’s fostered the work of such artists as Holly Hughes, Peggy Shaw, Lisa Kron and The Blue Man Group. Since 1992, DP has mounted HOT!—an annual festival of “Theater, dance, literature, music, and homoeroticism for the whole family,” Covan says. Winner of a Bessie and two Obie Awards, Covan’s preparing to move DP to a new home on Chrystie Street in 2008."For years?I thought of?Dixon Place?as a lifestyle, rather than an accomplishment,” she says. “Now, with the challenge?of?building?a new space,?I'm?exposed to things I never imagined. I'm embracing an attitude of gratitude." This year’s HOT! kicks off July 2. –JK