Four DCA members add their thoughts to the issue at hand: Ali Duffy notes that snark gets in the way of a proper dance dialogue, Brian Schaefer suggests that snark does a disservice to a writer’s prose, Alastair Macaulay explains how sarcasm has a long, and important, role in the history of criticism, and Marcia Siegel points out that, from politics to emails, snark is all around us.

What do you think? Comment and join the conversation!

ALI DUFFY:
I think we need to go back to the fundamental question of what a critic should aim to articulate. Personally, I see my criticism as a way to dialogue with other viewers about what I saw and what the work communicated to me. From my perspective, there is no place for snark in criticism because it does not help choreographers make better dances nor does it encourage dancers to become better performers. In fact, it creates tension and insecurity for artists who already struggle to maintain relevance in our already dismissive society. It does not further the dance industry in any way. Snark demeans the value and strength of dance, diminishing its artistry entirely, and reducing dance criticism to gossipy tabloid fodder.

BRIAN SCHAEFER:
A writer that limps along with snark as a crutch does a disservice to dance and criticism by failing to do what I consider to be two of the most important things in criticism: write beautifully and care about the subject (by which I mean care about dance, not necessarily every artist or performance). A critic should take as much pride in her/his words as a choreographer does in her/his dance. Snark – as distinguished from wit or even biting insight because it leans toward the mean-spirited and tends to reveal the writer’s own ego – often trades in easy cliche and is a cheap tool for a writer. Regardless of whether a critic likes or dislikes a piece, if he or she cares fundamentally about elevating dance as a whole, then even a negative review can be respectful and illuminating in its honesty.

ALASTAIR MACAULAY:
The notion that sarcasm in criticism is on the rise can only be made by the historically ill-informed. Around 1699-1700 one London observer found the visiting French ballerina Marie-Thérèse Perdou de Subligny’s feet so irritatingly fast that he wished they were pinned to the ground. A few years later Daniel Defoe wrote a mock advertisement for a performance in aid of St Paul’s Church, Covent Garden, by the artists of Drury Lane Theatre, including the ballerina-actress Hester Santlow; he signed it “Hamlet, Prince of Denmark and Lucifer, Prince of Darkness, Churchwardens.” Perhaps it was not sarcastic of Nikolay Solyannikov, in his review of the premiere of “The Nutcracker” (1892), to say of the original Sugar Plum couple “Neither the corpulent, podgy Dell’ Era nor her bearded partner who had put on weight could produce model fairy-tale characters “; but his point may be of interest nonetheless to latterday readers.

The reviews of Bernard Shaw in the 1890s and Pauline Kael and Arlene Croce in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s abound with examples of sarcasm. (Shaw observed that after a week of listening to pianists, he liked to go to a dentist and have his teeth drilled by a steady hand. Kael wrote in 1980 of Isabelle Huppert “Right now, it you want to go the movies, she’s hard to avoid, though it’s worth the effort.” Croce began a 1974 review “On a desperate night in Stockholm, one can throw oneself into a canal or go to the Royal Swedish Ballet.”) In a 1979 Ballet Review, David Vaughan proposed that the Stuttgart Ballet should present “a production of an opera (any opera) with the singers on the stage and the dancers in the pit.”

Writing in “The Financial Times” in 1980, Clement Crisp – who already had more than twenty years’ experience as a critic – began a review of a Béjart triple bill (“The Firebird”, “Petrushka”, “The Rite of Spring”) with these words: “Béjart and Stravinsky is one of those fabled partnerships, like Romeo and Goneril, or bacon and strawberries.” In 1988, he wrote that in a new work of performance art the British group Second Stride “may be said to be ‘into’ world religion in the sense that a bull is ‘into’ a china shop.” The choreographer Matthew Bourne likes to quote two reviews by Clement Crisp from the early 1990s about Bourne’s own company (then named Adventures in Motion Pictures): in one now lost work, Crisp said the dancers resembled “the rugby team from Lesbos” and that in Bourne’s own “Highland Fling”the sylphs’ loose white costumes were like “manic dirty laundry”.

MARCIA SIEGEL

It’s all about language, when it isn’t about ill-temper. Certain critics are/were masters at delicious snarky conversations in the lobby—Dale Harris, Charles France—-but even they, I think, wouldn’t print those views in those words. I also don’t think public discourse has to resort to bitchy, sarcastic or insulting language—there’s always a civil —-and more interesting—way to vent one’s discontent.

I don’t feel the slightest impulse to “help choreographers make better dances . . [or] encourage dancers to become better performers” or soothe the artists’ “tension and insecurity,” to quote Ali Duffy. But I don’t have to spit out my first negative reactions either.

Snark is all around us, look at the political campaigns, “reality” show judges, and everyday email exchanges. We live in thoughtless times. Playing into the public’s blood lust is a particularly unattractive role for critics to play, I think.

The Dance Critics Association returns to New York City for its 2012 annual conference being held June 22-24, 2012. The conference, called “21st Century Dance Writing: Multimedia, Multiarts, Multitasking,” will be held at the Joan Weill Center for Dance in New York City, home to the Alvin Ailey dance companies and school.

Panels planned for the 2012 conference will look at some of the current issues impacting the field of dance writing and dance writers.

The conference will begin with a keynote panel led by Virginia Johnson, artistic director of the Dance Theatre of Harlem on how changes in the cultural landscape have impacted changes in dance coverage.

Other panels will include sessions on:

· The state of dance criticism today

· Lessons to be learned from critics of other art forms

· The Merce Cunningham legacy

· Dance writing in the digital age

· The growth of dance on television

· Choreographers who use language in dance

The conference will coincide with performances by, among others, the Limon Dance Company at the Joyce Theatre and American Ballet Theatre at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center.

For conference rates and registration, please click here.

For more information contact:
Karyn D. Collins
DCA 2012 Conference Coordinator
kdc13@verizon.net
732-249-4517

ABOUT THE GARY PARKS SCHOLARSHIP:

The scholarships, named for the late, well-loved reviews editor for Dance Magazine , support attendance to the DCA annual conference. Parks was a point of contact for dance writers around the world, and a friend and mentor to many people in the field. This scholarship, to the DCA annual conference, is designed to encourage that same sense of collegiality.

This year the DCA will offer two scholarships of $500 for emerging or experienced writers to attend the annual conference in New York City, June 22-24, 2012. (DCA will make fewer awards if criteria are not met.) The DCA Annual Conference will be held at the Joan Weill Center for Dance, home of the Alvin Ailey school and companies.

TO APPLY:

All applicants must submit three published reviews or critical essays, along with a cover letter. The cover letter should specify which scholarship – emerging or experienced –is being requested, state professional qualifications and discuss why the applicant feels that he or she would benefit from attending the DCA conference. Any special circumstances that you feel are relevant should also be addressed, including financial need, the fact that the applicant specializes in a particular form of criticism or that English is the critic’s second language.

Submit materials via email to: aliduffy22@yahoo.com, or if applicant does not have access to email, submit three copies of entire application to: Gary Parks Scholars, c/o Ali Duffy, 2610 22ndSt. Lubbock, TX 79410. The emerging writers’ scholarship will be awarded on a competitive basis. The experienced writers’ fellowship will be awarded via a lottery.

Deadline for receiving applications is Monday, April 2, 2012. Applicants will be notified by April 16th, 2012 in time to make arrangements to attend the conference. Questions? Email: aliduffy22@yahoo.com.

JOANNA HARRIS

2011 Highlight - There are splendid ‘emerging’ choreographers and performers from the SF Bay Area: Christy Funsch and Nol Simonse (seen in “Etudes in Detention”); Katie Falkner and Brandon Private Freeman (“Until We Know For Sure”); and Amy Seiwart’s new works for the Smuin Ballet.

2012 Hope – My hope for 2012 is that the SF Ballet will invite more inventive choreographers; that ‘contact improvisation’ will release its hold as ‘technique’ in performance; that NO work will have more than five lifts in five minutes; and that we see groups of the brilliant Merce Cunningham Dance Company performing, somewhere, somehow.

RITA KOHN

2011 Highlight - Despite witnessing many outstanding professional dance companies, my highlight was being in the presence of 4, 5 and 6 year-olds being angles in the Indianapolis School of Ballet 2011 Nutcracker. Not only did they “float”  without need of dry ice, they won our hearts with their collective facial wonderment as they interacted with the Snow Queen. Beyond cute, they were professional, focused and everything we hope for the future of dance.

2012 Hope – My 2012 dance hope is for a national recognition of the significance of dance in daily life on and off the stage. I hope Dance Critics Association provides the leadership for a national forum to engage everyone in conversation about how dance is meaningful to our mental, physical, cultural well-being, and thus ripples into every other facet of life.

BRIAN SCHAEFER

2011 Highlight – I’ve been a long-time groupie of Ohad Naharin and the Batsheva Dance Company.  Now that I live in Tel Aviv, I have full-access to see them almost whenever I want and get to revisit their stellar repetoire again and again.  Every time your artistic hero introduces a new piece, there’s that risk of being disappointed.  But Naharin’s new work “Sadeh 21,” which I’ve already seen twice, is a masterpiece.  I can’t remember the last time a dance left me in tears.

2012 Hope – I really want to discover someone this year.  Whether a new Israeli choreographer or an artist from somewhere else… I want to be surprised.  Someone that isn’t already on the map but who I stumble upon and just, “wow.”  Kinda like Roy Assaf did for me last year with the charming “Six Years Later…”

ROBERT ABRAMS

2011 Highlight – It is hard to pick just one, but if forced to do so, I would go with the Century Ballroom in Seattle. I thought it was a definite “find”. I have a three year old daughter, so opportunities to go out dancing at night are pretty rare right now.

2012 Hope – I am hoping to take my daughter to one of the New York Theatre Ballet’s one hour dance performances.

WHAT ARE YOURS?  COMMENT & SHARE WITH US YOUR HIGHLIGHTS & HOPES

The Dance Critics Association is pleased to offer the 2012 Gary Parks Scholarships, named for the late, well-loved reviews editor for Dance Magazine. His position there made him a point of contact for dance writers around the world, and a friend and mentor to many people in the field. This scholarship, to the DCA annual conference, is designed to encourage that same sense of collegiality.

This year the DCA will offer two scholarships of $500 for emerging or experienced writers to attend the annual conference in New York City, June 22-24, 2012. (DCA will make fewer awards if criteria are not met.) The DCA will be held at the Alvin Ailey Dance Center.

More more information on how to apply, please click here.

We will initially be using this part of the DCA web site to post member news. This is a work in progress, so have some patience while we work out the kinks.

Sincerely,

Robert Abrams

DCA President