Alexandra

Thanks very much for telling us about this, Lolly and Sylvia. As Giannina would say, "Green! Green!" (Meaning, I wish I could have gone.)

Welcome to Bayaderkaland, and thanks very much to Dale for the suggestion. We'll revive our Ballets in Detail idea for this one -- I think it warrants it. Please post questions as separate topics. I'll start with a few, but please feel free to add as the needs and ideas arise.

Thanks for posting that, Estelle. It sounds pretty bad, but it's nice to know about it anyway

Posted with permission of the writer: TO: Caroline Miller, Editor New York Magazine I write to urge you to reconsider your decision to eliminate Tobi Tobias's dance criticism and the dance column from New York Magazine. Eliminating dance criticism in the pages of New York Magazine--and I don't mean occasional articles or previews or listings but informed criticism by an internationally renowned and respected critic--will have serious consequences. Historically, dance and its sister arts have flourished in New York in an environment of articulate criticism, discussion, argument. We need more not less of this today when there are fewer and fewer print outlets for arts criticism. New York Magazine has had a stake in the cultural life and vitality of the world's dance capital which it is about to give up--and for what reason? Are we next to learn that you are dropping music, theater, film criticism? And, if not, why is dance singled out? How does this best serve your readers--and the city? There are some things that should not be measured in dollars, subscriptions or advertisers. Your decision sends a dreadful message to others in the print media as well as to the artists, companies, presenters and businesses in the city who are the engines of the creativity and innovation that have made New York--and New York Magazine--great. I sincerely hope you may be persuaded to reconsider your decision. Sincerely, Sali Ann Kriegsman Former President, Dance Heritage Coalition Former Executive Director, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival Former Director, Dance Program, National Endowment for the Arts Former Dance Consultant, Smithsonian Institution

Posted with permission of the writer: TO: Caroline Miller, Editor New York Magazine I write to urge you to reconsider your decision to eliminate Tobi Tobias's dance criticism and the dance column from New York Magazine. Eliminating dance criticism in the pages of New York Magazine--and I don't mean occasional articles or previews or listings but informed criticism by an internationally renowned and respected critic--will have serious consequences. Historically, dance and its sister arts have flourished in New York in an environment of articulate criticism, discussion, argument. We need more not less of this today when there are fewer and fewer print outlets for arts criticism. New York Magazine has had a stake in the cultural life and vitality of the world's dance capital which it is about to give up--and for what reason? Are we next to learn that you are dropping music, theater, film criticism? And, if not, why is dance singled out? How does this best serve your readers--and the city? There are some things that should not be measured in dollars, subscriptions or advertisers. Your decision sends a dreadful message to others in the print media as well as to the artists, companies, presenters and businesses in the city who are the engines of the creativity and innovation that have made New York--and New York Magazine--great. I sincerely hope you may be persuaded to reconsider your decision. Sincerely, Sali Ann Kriegsman Former President, Dance Heritage Coalition Former Executive Director, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival Former Director, Dance Program, National Endowment for the Arts Former Dance Consultant, Smithsonian Institution

And here, belatedly, is mine: Dear Ms. Miller, I learned with alarm tonight that New York magazine will discontinue its dance coverage. As a dance critic for more than 20 years (Washington Post, Dance Magazine, etc.) and editor of two dance publications, I'm concerned because I believe that Tobi Tobias's voice is needed. She is a brilliant critic. She is one of the few people writing about dance today who can do so within a historical context; i.e., she's seen a lot and she knows what she's seeing. She is a fine writer with rigorous standards, which are particularly invaluable in the current dance climate. I am also stunned that a magazine in the dance capital of the world does not consider dance worthy of coverage. Tobias's column is read. There are dance fans who buy the magazine and who subscribe to it solely to read her column. I believe that a magazine which purports to cover the city's arts and entertainment scene has an obligation to include dance in that coverage. I hope that you will reconsider this decision and, when next season begins, reinstate the dance coverage that those who care about dance in New York have depended on for so many years. Sincerely, Alexandra Tomalonis, Editor DanceView and Ballet Alert!

And here, belatedly, is mine: Dear Ms. Miller, I learned with alarm tonight that New York magazine will discontinue its dance coverage. As a dance critic for more than 20 years (Washington Post, Dance Magazine, etc.) and editor of two dance publications, I'm concerned because I believe that Tobi Tobias's voice is needed. She is a brilliant critic. She is one of the few people writing about dance today who can do so within a historical context; i.e., she's seen a lot and she knows what she's seeing. She is a fine writer with rigorous standards, which are particularly invaluable in the current dance climate. I am also stunned that a magazine in the dance capital of the world does not consider dance worthy of coverage. Tobias's column is read. There are dance fans who buy the magazine and who subscribe to it solely to read her column. I believe that a magazine which purports to cover the city's arts and entertainment scene has an obligation to include dance in that coverage. I hope that you will reconsider this decision and, when next season begins, reinstate the dance coverage that those who care about dance in New York have depended on for so many years. Sincerely, Alexandra Tomalonis, Editor DanceView and Ballet Alert!

I frankly didn't expect this to be a continuing news story, but it's turning out that way. I've learned that there's one dance organization with a 1400 member name mailing list that has requested its members to email their views on this matter. I'm going to move this over to the Books, Magazines and Critics thread. I'm also going to split off the letters that people have posted. Several people who aren't members here, and who, I think, are not accustomed to internet message boards, have sent me emails with copies of their letters to post, so I'll be doing that. People are checking the coverage here for updates. I'd also like to emphasize that, although it's pretty obvious where I, and many others, stand on this issue, this, like any other topic, is open to discussion. If you think NYMagazine did the right thing -- please feel free to say so. And if you wish they'd reconsider and restore dance reviews to NYMagazine but think that your voice doesn't matter, it does. They're counting. 50 emails may not matter. 1,000 may well matter. So please write, if you haven't done so, or reply to Ms. Miller's letter, if you'd like to counter her points. caroline_miller@newyorkmag.com

This was emailed me today, with permission to post: Dear New York Magazine, Please reconsider your ill advised decision to drop Tobi Tobias and dance criticism. Tobi Tobias writes with enormous verve and clarity, and the entire cultural community will be diminished if her voice can no longer be heard via your widely read magazine. Sincerely, Emily Wortis Leider

I frankly didn't expect this to be a continuing news story, but it's turning out that way. I've learned that there's one dance organization with a 1400 member name mailing list that has requested its members to email their views on this matter. I'm going to move this over to the Books, Magazines and Critics thread. I'm also going to split off the letters that people have posted. Several people who aren't members here, and who, I think, are not accustomed to internet message boards, have sent me emails with copies of their letters to post, so I'll be doing that. People are checking the coverage here for updates. I'd also like to emphasize that, although it's pretty obvious where I, and many others, stand on this issue, this, like any other topic, is open to discussion. If you think NYMagazine did the right thing -- please feel free to say so. And if you wish they'd reconsider and restore dance reviews to NYMagazine but think that your voice doesn't matter, it does. They're counting. 50 emails may not matter. 1,000 may well matter. So please write, if you haven't done so, or reply to Ms. Miller's letter, if you'd like to counter her points. caroline_miller@newyorkmag.com

This was emailed me today, with permission to post: Dear New York Magazine, Please reconsider your ill advised decision to drop Tobi Tobias and dance criticism. Tobi Tobias writes with enormous verve and clarity, and the entire cultural community will be diminished if her voice can no longer be heard via your widely read magazine. Sincerely, Emily Wortis Leider

Thanks for the repertory, Ari, and the news that Goh will be dancing, Kevin. She's been with Farrell for several seasons now. Read a review of "A Farewell to Music" here http://www.peak.sfu.ca/the-peak/2000-3/iss...2/ar-dance.html

Welcome, Elias! (And thanks to all who posted to fill in the Missing Medals.) I don't have the answer to your question, but I should have over the weekend, and I'll post it -- if nobody else beats me to it.

Time Out is covering this issue by running an interview with Tobias by Gia Kourlas; it will be on newstands next Wednesday. This is not on line, and I can't get this magazine down here, so I'm counting on New Yorkers to fill us in! One error in the LATimes article -- the word "reviews" appears; it should be "previews." And the last sentence in the Miller quote in the LATimes is an addition; it's not in the reply the magazine is using to respond to emailers. Calliope, I haven't had time to run down the latest figures today; the people I need to talk to are out of town. I'll try Monday. The last survey I remember reading was that dance attendance was up, but that was several years ago and things can change very quickly. dirac, none of the people I've talked to or gotten messages from have mentioned personal opinions about Tobias or her writing -- to everyone's surprise, I think. Perhaps Dance Insider is antcipating, as many did, that there would be some who'd say "she slammed me, good riddance," but people seem to be looking at the larger issue. I've also found over the years that Tobias is one of those critics -- Croce was another -- that artists loved to mutter about, until she gave them a good review. THEN the opinion changed (which is perfectlly natural) and this is another way of saying that Tobias is respected.

Time Out is covering this issue by running an interview with Tobias by Gia Kourlas; it will be on newstands next Wednesday. This is not on line, and I can't get this magazine down here, so I'm counting on New Yorkers to fill us in! One error in the LATimes article -- the word "reviews" appears; it should be "previews." And the last sentence in the Miller quote in the LATimes is an addition; it's not in the reply the magazine is using to respond to emailers. Calliope, I haven't had time to run down the latest figures today; the people I need to talk to are out of town. I'll try Monday. The last survey I remember reading was that dance attendance was up, but that was several years ago and things can change very quickly. dirac, none of the people I've talked to or gotten messages from have mentioned personal opinions about Tobias or her writing -- to everyone's surprise, I think. Perhaps Dance Insider is antcipating, as many did, that there would be some who'd say "she slammed me, good riddance," but people seem to be looking at the larger issue. I've also found over the years that Tobias is one of those critics -- Croce was another -- that artists loved to mutter about, until she gave them a good review. THEN the opinion changed (which is perfectlly natural) and this is another way of saying that Tobias is respected.

Thanks very much for posting this, Ari. What's exciting about this is that I think the dance community -- the presenters, the dancers, the company managers -- who have been gritting their teeth for the past 20 years about the dearth of coverage of dance, saying, "Of course, we understand. Times are tough." (During the '90s bubble????) "But could you please possibly cover the world premiere of our new work? Oh, thank you so much. Of course, we understand you couldn't begin to consider a preview," etc etc. They can't complain about little coverage because of fear of even less coverage as a "punishment" for daring to question the judgment of the accountants -- I'm sorry. I mean editors. BUT they can scream about no coverage. And they are screaming. What I hope is that this will carry over to other publications. It's time that dance stood up and was counted. There is no basis for the assumption by many newspapers and magazines that there's no interest in dance. Dance USa has lots of statistics on this -- audience demographics, real numbers. Their favorite is that more people attend ballet performances than NFL games. The problem is that dance is not part of the world of most, if not all, editors and publishers.

Thanks very much for posting this, Ari. What's exciting about this is that I think the dance community -- the presenters, the dancers, the company managers -- who have been gritting their teeth for the past 20 years about the dearth of coverage of dance, saying, "Of course, we understand. Times are tough." (During the '90s bubble????) "But could you please possibly cover the world premiere of our new work? Oh, thank you so much. Of course, we understand you couldn't begin to consider a preview," etc etc. They can't complain about little coverage because of fear of even less coverage as a "punishment" for daring to question the judgment of the accountants -- I'm sorry. I mean editors. BUT they can scream about no coverage. And they are screaming. What I hope is that this will carry over to other publications. It's time that dance stood up and was counted. There is no basis for the assumption by many newspapers and magazines that there's no interest in dance. Dance USa has lots of statistics on this -- audience demographics, real numbers. Their favorite is that more people attend ballet performances than NFL games. The problem is that dance is not part of the world of most, if not all, editors and publishers.

Dance Insider has a story on this today, and a very detailed list of emails, fax and phone numbers of people to contact. http://www.danceinsider.com/f2002/f0802_1.html I've gotten phonecalls and emails constantly for the past two days -- presenters, funders, dancers, dance lovers and critics. All said they have written, there are two print articles I know of in the works -- there's a brief mention in the LATimes this morning, but I couldn't access it. (It's a site where you have to register and I kept getting a "we're having trouble processing this, try back later" message). The DanceInsider piece points out that this has been coming for years -- Tobias' coverage has been cut back substantially over the past decade, as has Deborah Jowitt's in the Village Voice. This is a good time to let these magazines know that we are out here and we care what they print. So please, don't be shy

Dance Insider has a story on this today, and a very detailed list of emails, fax and phone numbers of people to contact. http://www.danceinsider.com/f2002/f0802_1.html I've gotten phonecalls and emails constantly for the past two days -- presenters, funders, dancers, dance lovers and critics. All said they have written, there are two print articles I know of in the works -- there's a brief mention in the LATimes this morning, but I couldn't access it. (It's a site where you have to register and I kept getting a "we're having trouble processing this, try back later" message). The DanceInsider piece points out that this has been coming for years -- Tobias' coverage has been cut back substantially over the past decade, as has Deborah Jowitt's in the Village Voice. This is a good time to let these magazines know that we are out here and we care what they print. So please, don't be shy

I got a response to my email from Ms. Miller. Several people have emailed me similar responses, so I feel comfortable posting this. It's a general response, not a personal one. I think her points can be debated and intend to do so. It seems that what they're doing is cutting a freelancer (so how much could she make? I write this as a freelancer) and limiting the dance coverage to listings and a few previews -- what we in the trade call "puff pieces." While preview pieces are valuable in alerting ticketbuyers to what's coming up, I think dance fans, like sports fans, want to read about how the game turned out. Again, Ms. Miller's email is: caroline_miller@newyorkmag.com Here's the letter. Dear Ms. Tomalonis, Thanks for your letter about our dance coverage. It's true that I decided not to renew Tobi's contract. In these difficult times, every publication in America has had to make painful choices, focusing limited resources on work that best serves its readers. While I have valued Tobi's contribution to the magazine, I believe that, for the time being, the best way we can provide ongoing coverage of dance is in other parts of the magazine. This doesn't mean we don't consider dance worthy of coverage, or that we are going to abandon the dance ommunity. We will continue to cover dance in previews, listings and features by other staff members. Dance will be included in the upcoming Fall Preview issue, as usual, and we have a feature on Mark Morris coming up later in the fall. Caroline Miller

I got a response to my email from Ms. Miller. Several people have emailed me similar responses, so I feel comfortable posting this. It's a general response, not a personal one. I think her points can be debated and intend to do so. It seems that what they're doing is cutting a freelancer (so how much could she make? I write this as a freelancer) and limiting the dance coverage to listings and a few previews -- what we in the trade call "puff pieces." While preview pieces are valuable in alerting ticketbuyers to what's coming up, I think dance fans, like sports fans, want to read about how the game turned out. Again, Ms. Miller's email is: caroline_miller@newyorkmag.com Here's the letter. Dear Ms. Tomalonis, Thanks for your letter about our dance coverage. It's true that I decided not to renew Tobi's contract. In these difficult times, every publication in America has had to make painful choices, focusing limited resources on work that best serves its readers. While I have valued Tobi's contribution to the magazine, I believe that, for the time being, the best way we can provide ongoing coverage of dance is in other parts of the magazine. This doesn't mean we don't consider dance worthy of coverage, or that we are going to abandon the dance ommunity. We will continue to cover dance in previews, listings and features by other staff members. Dance will be included in the upcoming Fall Preview issue, as usual, and we have a feature on Mark Morris coming up later in the fall. Caroline Miller

Pamela, I've never heard of him. I think if others had, they would have responded. Last call -- anyone know anything about Mr. Irving??

I deleted a post on this thread and notified the poster by email. So, dear poster, please check your email A reminder: when writing about a dancer, don't get too personal. It's a good idea to remember that anything you write may be read by the dancer, or his mother. Be honest, but pretend you're in a living room

I hate to be provincial, but aren't these supposed to be American awards? One doesn't need to be a citizen, and certainly one doesn't have to be born here, but I can't think of another honoree who hasn't spent most of his or her adult life here. Sir Paul is now an American citizen????? Elizabeth Taylor used to come to the Kennedy Center regularly when she was Mrs. John Warner.

I agree, piccolo -- that's why this is bad news, I think. You have two problems now. Editors, generally, are not tuned into dance so they have no personal interest. And, then, dance doesn't attract the same crowds as rock concerts. Ergo, it must be an inferior art form I hope you wrote this to them. Thank you, BW. I think if a lot of subscribers wrote -- or people who buy the magazine weekly when there's a dance review in it, which is what I've done, or those of you outside of New York who access it by the net. That might mean something to them. At least they will know that DANCE MATTERS.