Dance Reviews (or Lack Thereof) in the NYT

[vipa]

I've been following the NYCB season and see more clearly that the NYTimes doesn't review dance anymore. They review plays, art exhibits, music etc. but not dance. Instead there are articles about dancers.  Is there a reason for this? My husband sings in a amateur (but well know) chorus which has been reviewed by a Times music critic several times recently. What's up with dance? 

[lmspear]

It seems that the Times is shifting it's coverage of dance to a post season roundup where neither the dancers or the productions are discussed in depth.  I still check the the Times website daily, but the hope and anticipation of seeing a timely in-depth review has just about vanished.

[nanushka]

11 hours ago, vipa said:

I've been following the NYCB season and see more clearly that the NYTimes doesn't review dance anymore. They review plays, art exhibits, music etc. but not dance. Instead there are articles about dancers.  Is there a reason for this? My husband sings in a amateur (but well know) chorus which has been reviewed by a Times music critic several times recently. What's up with dance? 

I can only assume it has something to do with the numbers. Plays, art exhibits, music, etc. quite conceivably all draw more website clicks (the newspaper itself being fairly vestigial at this point), and they'd certainly be tracking such things.

[dirac]

The Times has shifted away from reviews, as other publications have done, mainly because not enough people are clicking on them, something that's come up in other discussions, directly or tangentially, here, here, and here. This is particularly apparent when you read the fairly vestigial print newspaper - the emphasis has shifted dramatically to Qs & As and features, and not only in the arts pages. As others have pointed out in earlier threads, there are some pluses, like the NYT's online only dance features. I'm guessing that if music is being treated somewhat differently, it's because those reviews are still attracting an online readership that the editors regard as meaningful.

Probably this will not change, but if you do care enough, it would not hurt to write the paper, and also thank the NYT for replacing Macaulay with another full-time chief dance critic, adding that you hope that the Times will keep Ms. Kourlas and her confreres busy reviewing stuff.

[sandik]

Publications follow readership stats very closely -- if you want to see more reviews, make sure you read the ones that you do get.