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KRIEGSMAN by Kirsten Amalie Bodensteiner Submitted to the Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of American University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Dance Chair: a Prevots George Jacl Dean of the College Date 2000 American University Washington, D.C. 20016 AMERICAN UNIVERSITY Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number 1398906 Copyright 2000 by Bodensteiner, Kirsten Amalie All rights reserved. ___ ® UMI UMI Microform 1398906 Copyright 2000 by Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ©COPYRIGHT by Kirsten A. Bodensteiner 2000 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CRITICISM REFINED: AN ANALYSIS OF SELECTED DANCE CRITICISM OF ALAN M. KRIEGSMAN by Kirsten A. Bodensteiner ABSTRACT This study focuses on the critical style of Alan M. Kriegsman during his tenure as full time dance critic for the Washington Post. The study defines central issues involved in writing dance criticism and examines Kriegsman’s critical style as a reflection of these issues. His use of the critical practices of description, interpretation, evaluation and contextualization is analyzed concerning his writing about five choreographers: Martha Graham, George Balanchine, Erick Hawkins, Mark Morris and Bill T. Jones. Winning the Pulitzer Prize for his criticism, Kriegsman chronicled the majority of the dance activity in the nation’s capital from 1966 until his retirement in 1996, and was the full­ time dance critic from 1974 on. Articles written by Kriegsman during the period of 1974-1996 were analyzed concerning the five artists mentioned above, and an interview was conducted with Alan M. Kriegsman. Finally, a picture of Kriegsman as a critic was established within the context of critical debate and trends in dance during his lengthy career. ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My sincerest thanks to the members of my committee, Dr. Naima Prevots, Dr. George Jackson, and Ann Halligan Donahue, who guided my thesis with insightful commentary. A special thanks to Naima, who never ceases to amaze me with her breadth of knowledge and experience concerning the art form of dance. Her prompt feedback was invaluable, and her encouragement and support has helped me challenge myself time and again. I would also like to thank dance critics Sarah Kaufman and Suzanne Carbaneau, who took time out from their busy schedules to read and comment on my thesis. A special thanks goes to Alan M. Kriegsman, whose criticism forms the basis for this study. I appreciate his willingness to be interviewed, and his generosity in sharing his wisdom about dance and criticism. I would like to thank him for producing such an impressive body of work and an example to emulate of criticism that is clear, simple, and unified. Lastly, I would like to express my gratitude to my parents for their enthusiasm and interest in my course of study, to my sisters for the network of support I always know is there, and to my grandparents for their example of lives well led. To Brad and Rio I owe endless thanks for the countless simple but beautiful moments that fill each day we spend together. iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CONTENTS ABSTRACT......................................................................................................................i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS............................................................................................iii LIST OF FIGURES......................................................................................................... v CHAPTER 1. AN INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY.................................................... 1 PART I. BACKGROUND INFORMATION 2. THE PRACTICE OF DANCE CRITICISM...............................................13 3. ISSUES INHERENT IN WRITING DANCE CRITICISM......................21 4. THE PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND OF ALAN M. KRIEGSMAN............................................................................34 PART II. CRITICAL ANALYSIS 5. THE USE OF DESCRIPTION IN KRIEGSMAN’S CRITICISM ...........39 6. THE USE OF INTERPRETATION IN KRIEGSMAN’S CRITICISM..................................................................................................49 7. THE USE OF EVALUATION IN KRIEGSMAN’S CRITICISM...........59 8. THE USE OF CONTEXTUALIZATION IN KREIGSMAN’S CRITICISM..................................................................................................69 9. CONCLUSION.............................................................................................76 APPEND DC INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR CRITIC ALAN KRIEGSMAN...............82 REFERENCES............................................................................................................... 85 iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. MCKAY’S THEORY OF DANCE CRITICISM.....................................................9 2. NEW MODEL FOR INTERPRETING CRITICISM: SYNTHESIS OF BANES’ AND MCKAY’S MODELS...............................................................10 v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER 1 AN INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY The importance of criticism to the field of dance can hardly be underestimated. Dance, the most ephemeral of the arts, relies heavily on the work of critics to preserve the essence of a particular performance and to disseminate information about the performance or choreographer. Critics have often been responsible for generating scholarly dialogue in the dance field; they occupy the unique position of being able to see a volume of performances, giving them a perspective on the development of individual artists and of the evolution and trends in the art form as a whole. Their reviews, unlike the performances they cover, remain to be revisited and researched by those with an interest in dance. Often reviews provide valuable clues to dance historians, wishing to uncover information about a work long lost. Criticism provides a type of documentation for the field, while also giving the reader the author's interpretation of the work seen. Reviews, because they reflect the interests and predilections of the critic, provide a window into the concerns or preoccupations of the society and culture in which they were written. The study of dance criticism seemed a natural way to synthesize the author's interests in dance and scholarship. A graduate dance-criticism course at American University taught by a variety of Washington D.C.-area dance critics proved valuable as an introduction to the field. Before the course, the author had a vague understanding l Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. about the nature of dance criticism; after the course there were remaining unanswered questions. How does one begin to approach the task of writing dance criticism? How does the critic choose what to focus on in the review? From what bases do they make evaluations of a work? What guidelines do critics follow when writing, if any? What kind of training is required to become a dance critic, and what are the issues involved in writing