2008
- Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from Bard College
2007
- Nelson A. Rockefeller Award, Purchase College School of the Arts, State University of New York
- Montgomery Fellow (Arts and Literature), Dartmouth College, Hanover NH
2006
- Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts, Cornish College of the Arts, Seattle WA
2005
- Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis MN
- Praemium Imperiale, Tokyo
2004
- Officier of the Légion d'Honneur, France
2003
- Edward MacDowell Medal in interdisciplinary art, the MacDowell Colony, Peterborough NH
2002
- Kitty Carlisle Hart Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Arts (Arts and Business Council), New York NY
- MATA (Music at the Anthology) Award, New York NY
- Medal of the City of Dijon, France
- Coat of Arms of the City of Mulhouse, France
- La Grande Médaille de la Ville de Paris (echelon vermeil) from the Mayor of Paris
- Career Transition for Dancers Award, New York NY
- Herald Archangel Award, Glasgow, Scotland
- Honorary degree from Edith Cowan University, Perth, Western Australia
2000
- Nijinsky Special Prize, Monaco
- The 2000 Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize, New York NY
- Named a “Living Legend” by the Library of Congress, Washington
1999
- Premio Internazionale “Gino Tani,” Rome
- Handel Medallion from the Mayor of New York City
- Isadora Duncan Dance Award for Lifetime Achievement, San Francisco C
- Fellow of the Academy of Performing Arts, Hong Kong
- The key to the City of Montpellier, France
1998
- Bagley Wright Fund Established Artists Award, Seattle WA
1997
- Barnard College Medal of Distinction, New York NY
- Grand Prix of the Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques, France
1996
- Nellie Cornish Arts Achievement Award from his alma mater, Cornish College of the Arts, Seattle WA
1995
- Honorary degree from Wesleyan University, Middletown CT
- Carina Ari Award (Grand Prix Video Danse with Elliot Caplan), Stockholm, Sweden
- Golden Lion of the Venice Biennale, Italy
1993
- Inducted into the Hall of Fame at the National Museum of Dance in Saratoga Springs, NY.
- Dance and Performance Award for Best Performance by a Visiting Artist, London, England
- Medal of Honor from the Universidad Complutense of Madrid, Spain
- (With John Cage, posthumously) the Wexner Prize of the Wexner Center for the Arts at Ohio State University, Columbus OH
-
New York Dance and Performance Award, New York NY
-
Tiffany Award from the International Society of Performing Arts Administrators, New York NY
1990
- National Medal of Arts, Washington DC
- Porselli Prize, Italy
- Digital Dance Premier Award, London, England
- Award of Merit from the Association of Performing Arts Presenters, New York NY
1989
- Chevalier of the Legion d'Honneur, France
1988
- Dance/USA National Honor, New York NY
1987
- Algur H. Meadows Award for Excellence in the Arts, Southern Methodist University, Dallas TX
1985
- Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production (Pictures), London, England
- Kennedy Center Honors, Washington DC
- MacArthur Fellowship from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Chicago IL
1984
- Inducted as an Honorary Member into the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, New York NY
1983
- The Mayor of New York's Award of Honor for Arts and Culture, New York NY
1982
- The Samuel H. Scripps/American Dance Festival Award, Durham, NC
- Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, France
1977
- Capezio Award, New York NY
1975
- New York State Award, Albany NY
1972
- BITEF Award, Belgrade, Yugoslavia
- Honorary degree from the University of Illinois, Champaign/Urbana IL
1966
- Gold Medal for Choreographic Invention at the Fourth International Festival of Dance, Paris
1964
- Medal of the Society for the Advancement of Dancing in Sweden, Stockholm
1960
- Dance Magazine Award, New York NY
1959 & 1954
- Fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, New York NY