Dance writing--whatever that is or we believe it to be--must change or die. And the dance world must turn its vast reserves of creativity towards effective public education, persuasion and marketing.
A recent town hall meeting, convened by
Dance/NYC and drawing together some new- and old-media types, addressed these two issues and more. I would have been there, but I am still in Europe and currently in direct touch only with roiling issues of volcanic behavior, aviation policy and British politics.
That dance needs to step up its efforts to engage the strangely estranged American public is something I've been railing about for a long time. But the other matter--the survival of dance writing--seems unimaginable unless we start talking about what we mean when we talk about writing on dance, because different people mean and want quite different things. We also have to talk about values--what matters most in dance and in the way it is considered, assessed and reported.
Before I left for London and Paris, I heard that dance artists
Christine Jowers and
Cory Nakasue--both writers for Jowers's
Dance-Enthusiast.com--would be attending and blogging about the town hall meeting. I'm happy to link back to
their thoughtful reports in the hope that this will continue to stimulate fresh and energized discussion.
Please feel free to offer your own thoughts here and on
Dance-Enthusiast.com, particularly if you attended this event.
Thanks!
Christine and Cory Comment--Solutions for Sustainable Dance Writing A Town Hall Meeting at the Joyce SoHo
