A Critical Change at The Village Voice
After more than 40 years, the dean of American dance critics, Deborah Jowitt, has written her last review at The Village Voice. Here are the reasons why.
When Is Your Dance Wrong?
Criticism and critique are based on personal standards and opinion. Opinion is fine, of course. However, when you apply your standard to others, at best, you should arrive at “like” and “don’t like” rather than “wrong” or “right.” Someone’s impression or perception of a subject reinterpreted through their art can be appreciated, unappreciated, liked or disliked, but can’t be wrong.
Raising the Barre: Should Dance Critics Take Class?
Why the self-imposed exile from dance classes? Why is the world of the studio off limits to those critics who write about dance?
Bridging the Gap: The Rocky Landscape of Today’s Dance Business
The divide is growing between small, independent dance companies and artists and larger, more established organizations. We either re-build … now or watch the dance community split in two.
John Rockwell on The Critical Divide
Critics are not there to serve the dance community or particular artists. They are there to join in—lead, maybe, in a dominant paper—a wider conversation and shared enthusiasm about the art form.
Andrea Snyder Receives Trustees Award: Fearlessness—My Mantra
In the face of artistic repression, budget cuts, a general disregard for the arts in the United States, and for this art form in particular, with the growing lack of space to create and perform work, the decline of touring opportunities, the loss of high quality and the frequency of dance criticism, international competition, declining audiences – need I say more? – you have remained a fearless community, dancing toward the problems and finding innovative solutions and alternatives that keep us moving forward.
Cultivating the “Ah-Ha” Moment
Many of us working in larger cities take exposure to high-caliber arts for granted. We are presented with a myriad of professional performance options on a daily basis. This is not the case, however, across the country particularly in dance where touring is getting more expensive, presenting is getting riskier, and selling tickets is more and more challenging.
Thoughts from a Dance Enthusiast: Pico Iyer’s Plenary Speech — Day 1
More than ever in the arts, we dancers and dance administrators need some good spiritual food for sustenance – especially as the world pushes us to move ever faster in its service and sometimes, it seems, far away from the art we love. It is imperative to thrive despite many draining challenges that face us. It is important to find balance in our lives.
The Dance Enthusiast Takes a Field Trip to Dance/USA’s 2011 Annual Conference
Welcome to Dance — Chicago Style
Scene: Opening Reception — On Stage at The Harris Theater for Music and Dance
Focus on Dance Writing, Content Creation, and Audience Engagement
Perhaps then, teaching dance-lovers the importance of entering the conversation may be a better project to undertake. Dance writing, whether it appears online or in print, begs a response from the community. With the advent of new media, dancers, choreographers, and dance enthusiasts have more opportunities than ever to share thoughts and opinions and so sustain their field.