Judith Jamison and Nigel Lythgoe will be honored with special awards at the 2016 Fred and Adele Astaire Awards, which will take place May 16 at the Skirball Center in Manhattan. Nominations for the Astaire Awards competitive categories will be announced May 2.

Jamison is artistic director emerita at Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Lythgoe is creator and executive director of the TV series “So You Think You Can Dance.”

The Astaire Awards honor excellence in dance and choreography on Broadway and in film. They were first given in 1982.

The Skirball Center for the Performing Arts at New York University is located at 566 LaGuardia Place. For more information and to order tickets, visit TheAstaireAwards.org.

This year's nominating committee includes Wendy Federman (chair), Nikki Atkins, Ted Chapin, Pat Collins, Don Correia, Sandy Duncan, Jonathan C. Herzog, Judith Jamison, Anna Kisselgoff, Pia Lindstrom, Donna McKechnie, Bruce Michael, Mary McColl, Michael Milton, Mary Beth O’Connor, Laura Penn, Wendy Perron, Lee Roy Reams, Andy Sandberg and Playbill's Harry Haun.