Killer choreography and complimentary choreographers:

[Ray]

Here in Philly, we've given up on expecting much from the PR at PA Ballet. From the website description of their 45th-season opener (which began with Ballo's "pageant of pastels and precision" and "virtuoso variations and ballerina bravura"), here's their execrable description of 9 Sinatra Songs :

"The evening is capped off with Twyla Tharp’s comedic tale of a male soloist’s struggle to navigate a world that demands structure. One of the dance arena’s most widely recognized 'cross-over' ballets, Push Comes to Shove is a cornerstone piece in the Tharp canon that pushes through barriers of ballet and shoves modern dance to center stage in her signature style."

Ray, I don't know if that's funnier than it is sad or sadder than it is funny.

Over on the Femme Fatales thread there is this bit from The Independent about how these dangerous creatures

displayed but a flickering interest in men for money, power and meaningless sex

.

Some day we're going to have to de-sedimentize back to grammar, syntax, and the dictionary meaning of words.

Well, I think the PAB writer might have thought s/he was trying to de-sedimentize that hoary old expression "push comes to shove"--in her/his signature style, natch, to make it relatable to the audience!

[DeborahB]

Allow me to correct the subtitle of this thread. The public relations department of an arts organizations rarely (if ever) writes catalog copy for brochures, newsletters or anything else geared towards the public. Their function is usually media based -- writing press releases, pitching stories, etc. Catalog/brochure writing is the responsibility of the marketing team (pr is usually a part of marketing), and specifically a copywriter. To illustrate this point, please look at the difference between NYCB's spring brochure, and compare it to the press releases on their website. The press releases are written in a journalistic style, and not in an advertising/promotional style (as seen in brochures etc.). Finally poor grammar, spelling and phrasing is the responsibility of a copyeditor, not the marketing/copywriter. Most company marketing departments , as well as all newspapers and magazines (even those decimated by layoffs) have copyeditors (many are freelancers). As a public relations and publicity professional for more than 30 years (with both English and Journalism degrees), I find the distinction between copywriting and public relations/publicity writing worth mentioning. One caveat -- this post was not copyedited.

[bart]

DeborahR: Thanks very much for that correction -- and for the insights into what is clearly a rather complicated, multi-level process.

I admit that I was having enjoying "making fun" so much that it never occurred to me to think about the context out of which such writing emerges.

The NYCB bochure copy that started this thread seems to be more a matter of hasty writing (probably by someone young and inexperienced) and sloppy editing: the kind of thing you are describing. The material describing Mr. Asentic's work was more in the nature of pretentious flim-flam -- quite another thing.

The point about layoffs in journalism hit home. In our local paper, the tv/pop culture critic has now expanded his field of expertise from Buffy the Vampire Slayer to serious theater and even ballet. You can imagine the results.

[kfw]

Allow me to correct the subtitle of this thread. The public relations department of an arts organizations rarely (if ever) writes catalog copy for brochures, newsletters or anything else geared towards the public. Their function is usually media based -- writing press releases, pitching stories, etc. Catalog/brochure writing is the responsibility of the marketing team (pr is usually a part of marketing), and specifically a copywriter. To illustrate this point, please look at the difference between NYCB's spring brochure, and compare it to the press releases on their website. The press releases are written in a journalistic style, and not in an advertising/promotional style (as seen in brochures etc.).

Thanks, DeborahB. Of course the style appropriate for a subscription brochure is not appropriate for a press release, so that alone doesn't tell us if the same person wrote both, although it does suggest that someone knows the difference.

Finally poor grammar, spelling and phrasing is the responsibility of a copyeditor, not the marketing/copywriter.

I have worked as both a journalist and a copyeditor, and I disagree. If the copyeditor has not only to correct an occasional typo or tricky bit of grammar, but has to adjust phrasing too, then who's doing the writing? Whoever wrote that brochure has little feel for written English, and shouldn't be working as a professional, which makes me wonder if he or she really is even a freelance professional, which makes me think someone with NYCB wrote it. But maybe you're right. In any case, someone at NYCB approved that amateur prose and doesn't know good writing from bad, and that's no crime, but the dancers, and the company's legacy, deserve much better.