what kind of dance writing do you read?

[sandik]

"... this kind of comment -- expecting an article to be one thing when it's another -- comes up a lot in our discussions and I'm responding as an editor and a writer. If I'm doing a feature, I don't expect people to be disappointed or critical because it's not analytical, and vice versa. As an editor and a writer, I don't know how to get around this and so it's a concern."

This comment of Alexandra's comes from a thread in the San Francisco ballet section, but I wanted to pull it out to ask a question. As someone who writes about dance I gnash my teeth when I have to make an article do too many things simultaneously -- comment on a current performance, put the dancer/choreographer/work/style/venue/season/presenter/etc into context, include multiple points of view, sound like the paper and sound like myself as well, all in 400 words. I'm not really complaining about my job (or at least not complaining much) -- I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to write, but ocassionally I have to roll my eyes.

All of this is by way of asking -- what do you like to read? Reviews, features, analysis, profiles... We are all writing about dancing here, so on some level we are all grappling with these challenges -- what do you find yourself gravitating to here and elsewhere? And what do you find yourself wanting to write?

[Ari]

I'll always read anything on a particular subject that interests me. Beyond that -- and I don't mean this to be a cop out -- I like to read good writing. No two writers are alike, each has his or her own style, and I like to read those who write in the style that best suits them. I realize that this is more likely to be found, at least where dance is concerned, in periodicals that do not cater to the general audience.

In interviews, I like to read as much as possible about the subject in his or her own words.

Pet peeve: reviews that are not criticism but consumer guides. Sadly, the latter is becoming more and more common, especially in newspapers. There seems to be a general assumption that in order for something to be worthwhile (i.e., worth spending your money on), it has to be good. Not so. Of course I don't want to see something bad, but I've been happy to see many performances that might be described as "interesting." That is, they are not my idea of what I'd like to see, but they are stimulating in some way. This is probably the difference between art and entertainment.

One thing I dislike is analytical articles that aren't the product of an interesting mind. In writing analysis, you have to have something to say, and superficial or silly or misinformed writing grates on my nerves. I'm not talking about opinions I disagree with, but arguments that aren't thoughtful or well-informed.

[mic31]

I like reading about peole in dance or about performances, the main thing that will turn me off of an article or a book is if it's too dry. If a book is written like a cheap text book it's gone. I read a book about the Ballet Russe like that.

It was a great shame because such a great topic like the Ballet Russe and all that came from it was demolished by a book that was unreadable.

[Farrell Fan]

In Ballet Review and Dance View I like to read articles that are analytical and historical. However, I don't want too many scholarly thoughts intruding into a New York Times review of what happened two nights ago. I like interviews, from puff pieces to in-depth ones. A long time ago, when he was on the New York Times, I thought Clive Barnes was the ideal reviewer -- a clear writer who was often amusing. I think the Times staff of daily reviewers was the best then -- Barnes, Kisselgoff, and Don McDonagh. It's sad that nowadays in the NY Post, Barnes has been relegated to an innocuous paragraph or two every now and then.

[Helene]

I'm looking forward to the day when dance books can be interactive with video and voice clips. Even though I use dance dictionaries to try to understand descriptions of steps and moves, I'm not very good at visualizing then. It would be great if I could click a link when a ballet term were mentioned and see a demonstration. Not to mention being able to see a performance of a piece or section that a writer was discussing, or hearing quotes directly from the dancer's/choreographer's/critic's mouths.

Of course there is that age-old question of royalties...

[Alexandra]

Royalties, and the fact that there's not a large enough "market" to justify the expense to those publishers who could do this. But wouldn't it be grand? It's made for the web -- come to a step name, click on a hyperlink, see it demonstrated. Mention four or five choreographers -- once major, today barely mentioned, like Dauberval and Didelot -- and you could click into a whole chapter, with lots and lots of drawings. There could be reconstructions of court dances, so you could see what a sarabande and a courant looked like. When we hit the 20th century, of course, there would be films......I would love to work on such a project!!!

[sandik]

In 1993 I was at a dance and technology conference where someone demonstrated a CD-ROM with a selection from a Balanchine ballet (I think it was 4T's) that was designed to have the music score run across the bottom of the screen while the dance played on. The aim was to create a kind of tool for dance analysis and we discussed what else could be included in something like this. It was a long list, including a Labanotation score running along the side, and additional sound channels with various commentaries by stagers, performers, choreographers, etc. At the time it seemed like a stunning dream -- now, of course, it's the same set of features you get in any garden variety DVD!