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Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with with permission permission of the of copyright the copyright owner. owner.Further reproduction Further reproduction prohibited without prohibited permission. without permission. CRITICISM REFINED: AN ANALYSIS OF SELECTED

DANCE CRITICISM OF ALAN M. KRIEGSMAN

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

Dance

Chair: a Prevots

George Jacl

Dean of the College

Date 2000

American University

Washington, D.C. 20016 AMERICAN UNIVERSITY

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Kirsten A. Bodensteiner

2000

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CRITICISM REFINED: AN ANALYSIS OF SELECTED DANCE CRITICISM OF

ALAN M. KRIEGSMAN

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.

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

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

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

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 criticism in general? The visiting Washington D.C. critics who led the course all

seemed to have their own answers to these questions, compounding initial inquiries. A

broad perspective on the field of dance criticism would be helpful to students of criticism,

but the course only provided information about personal approaches. It seemed there was

no one methodology or theoretical framework followed by the critics who presented in

class or whose published works were read. Most, it seemed, were self-educated in the

skill of viewing dance critically. Their approach to writing criticism, consequently, was

influenced greatly by their individual experiences and personal background.

It became apparent that the best way to gain an understanding of the issues

involved in dance criticism and of the influences acting on the dance critic would be to

research scholarly debate on the role of the critic and the purpose of criticism. Debate

between dance critics and research focused on criticism would help to identify trends and

concerns in the field, giving a sense of the broad picture. To fully understand how these

issues specifically affected critical writing, it was necessary to focus the larger debate

back on the work of a single dance critic. The issues debated between critics on the

nature of dance criticism needed to be applied in a concrete way. How were these issues

reflected in the work of a particular dance critic? How did the critic choose to address

these concerns? Alan M. Kriegsman, critic for the Washington Post, was one of the

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dance critics who came in for a few sessions of the course to share his experiences as a

critic, and to help the students understand a bit about his approach. The decision was

made to focus on the work of Alan M. Kriegsman to give the larger debate a specific

focus.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of the study was to analyze selected dance criticism of Alan M.

Kriegsman during his career as full time dance critic for the Washington Post, from 1974

to 1996, when he retired. Kriegsman's writing is viewed in relation to two theories on

dance criticism. The two theories provide a vehicle for understanding Kriegsman's

critical approach and act as a springboard to discuss how Kriegsman's work reflects

issues of importance in the field of dance criticism. The two theories, which are

discussed in Chapter 2 at length, are Sally Banes' four categories of critical operations

performed by a critic, and Carol McKay's seven categories showing intrinsic and

extrinsic critical factors.

Statement of the Problem

In order to analyze selected works of Alan Kriegsman's criticism, the following

questions were addressed:

1. What is Kriegsman's overall goal or purpose for his critical writing?

2. Looking at Sally Banes' model, how does Kriegsman use the critical

categories of description, interpretation, evaluation, and contextualization in his writing?

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3. Implementing Carol McKay's model, where does Kriegsman's criticism fall in

the spectrum of intrinsic to extrinsic criticism?

4. How does Kriegsman's criticism reflect critical debate?

Importance of the Study

Alan Kriegsman was the performing arts critic for the Washington Post from

1966 to 1996. He won the Pulitzer Prize in Criticism in 1976, the first time the award in

the criticism category was given for writing on dance. In 1974 Alan Kriegsman became

the only full-time dance critic the Washington Post has ever hired, which is the position

he held until his retirement. During his lengthy career, Kriegsman was responsible for

chronicling most of the dance activity in our nation's capitol.

Few dance critics have had the ability to reach such a large and influential

audience with their writing, and none have won a Pulitzer Prize for their work. An

analysis of Kriegsman's criticism provides the reader with an understanding of a

successful critic, illuminating the choices he made when reviewing a work. It is

important for those who read dance criticism, or any other type of critical commentary, to

look critically at the reviewer. What was the author's purpose in writing this review?

What critical categories did they use when writing, and how does that illustrate the tastes

or biases of the critic? How does the writing of the critic reflect the attitudes of the

times? This study provides a framework for answering these questions. The framework

can help with an increased understanding of criticism in general, and can be applied to

the work of another critic, to aid in analyzing a different critical approach.

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An increased understanding of criticism would be of benefit to anyone interested

in looking at or responding intelligently to dance, or anyone interested in the field of

criticism in general. Disciplines that would gain from an in depth analysis of criticism

might include aesthetics, journalism, history, sociology and anthropology, among others.

Educators may find the study of interest, as the development of critical skills in students

is increasingly emphasized in student assessment. Responding critically to works of art

requires the use of higher-level thinking skills and aids in appreciation and understanding

of the work of others.

Delimitations

Due to the volume of criticism produced by Alan Kriegsman throughout his

lengthy career, it was necessary to limit the scope of this study in the interest of providing

an in-depth analysis. Kriegsman wrote for the Washington Post from 1966 until 1996,

and was full time dance critic from 1974 until his retirement in 1996. The analysis of his

writing presented in the study spans his career as full time critic, focusing specifically on

his critical writing concerning five choreographers: Martha Graham, Erick Hawkins,

George Balanchine, Mark Morris, and Bill T. Jones. His complete writings for the

Washington Post on these artists (from 1974 on) were reviewed for the study.

An effort was made to choose artists who may have posed different challenges to

the critic. Graham, Hawkins and Balanchine had careers already well established by the

time Kriegsman began writing about them. In contrast, Kriegsman's early writing about

Morris and Jones came before their widespread recognition. Balanchine is a ballet

choreographer, while the other four are primarily modem-dance choreographers.

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Because so many different ballet companies perform Balanchine's works, Kriegsman's

wealth of critical material on Balanchine includes critical coverage of both domestic and

international ballet troupes. Each of the modem dance artists chosen represents a

different choreographic approach; Graham's works are dramatic and psychological with a

bound sense of physicality. Hawkins' work, in contrast to Graham, is less angst-ridden,

demonstrating a technique that emphasizes lightness and freedom. Morris, a musical

choreographer, whimsically plays with the musical score while playing with issues of

gender stereotypes, and Jones deals with the social issues of race, AIDS, and terminal

illness, with company of dancers exhibiting diverse body types.

Throughout his career, Kriegsman saw repeat performances of many Graham and

Balanchine works, making it possible to analyze different reviews of the same

choreographic work over a period of time. He wrote tributes highlighting the careers of

Graham and Balanchine, who both passed away during the years of his critical writing.

Due to the length of his career, he was able to chronicle the changing of the guard from

one generation of dancers to the next. The analysis of his writing will provide insight

into his views on the developments in modem dance and ballet during the period 1974-

1996.

This study concerns itself with Kriegsman's work for the Washington Post, and

focuses on newspaper criticism specifically.

Methodology

The methodology for this study included various investigative procedures. An

investigation was first conducted to determine what scholarly books, theses or

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dissertations had been published on dance criticism. Many sources provided invaluable

help in defining categories for viewing dance criticism. Sally Banes, in her book Writing

Dancing in the Age o f Postmodernism, defines four operations a critic can perform:

description, interpretation, evaluation and contextualization.1 These four operations are

defined and described in Chapter 2. Banes' four operations provide the basis for

analyzing Kriegsman's criticism; Kriegsman's use of each of the four operations is

discussed in depth throughout the study, in reference to his body of critical work on

Martha Graham, George Balanchine, Erick Hawkins, Mark Morris, and Bill T. Jones. A

separate chapter is dedicated to each critical operation in Chapters 5-8. The discussion of

each critical operation is enhanced by a look at the critical debate surrounding issues

involved when writing description, interpretation, evaluation, or contextual information.

Carol McKay presents another way to categorize criticism in her master's thesis

entitled Suggested Categories for Dance Criticism.1 She looks at dance criticism in an

ethnological context, defining seven categories that show the intrinsic and extrinsic

factors present in a critical review. These categories are defined in depth in Chapter 2.

Using McKay's model, another lens is put in place through which we can analyze

Kriegsman's criticism. In Chapters 5-8, as his criticism is discussed according to his use

of description, interpretation, evaluation, and contextualization, Kriegsman's criticism is

concurrently examined according to McKay's model. Although McKay's model deals

specifically with a critic's use of contextualization, the other three operations of a critic,

1 Sally Banes, Writing Dancing in the Age ofPostmodernism (Hanover: University of New England Press, 1994), 25. 2 Carol McKay, Suggested Categories for Dance Criticism (Master's thesis, UCLA, 1983), 23.

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description, interpretation and evaluation, involve intrinsic and extrinsic factors in a more

general sense. A visual representation of McKay's model can be seen in Figure 1.

Figure 2 demonstrates the synthesis of Banes' and McKay's models created for the

purpose of this investigation, and for other investigations of this type.

To understand issues surrounding the role of the dance critic, research was

conducted into published debate on the topic. Scholarly journals such as Dance Theatre

Journal, Dance SCOPE, Ballet Review, the Dance Research Journal and Dance Ink,

among others, were instrumental in discerning ongoing debate in the field on criticism.

Reading the discussion of critics and dance scholars on criticism made it possible to

identify central themes important to critical debate. These central themes are identified

and discussed in Chapter 3. Alan Kriegsman's criticism is then examined in Chapters 5-8

with these central themes or issues in mind. A view on how his criticism reflects issues

prevalent in the discussion of the field is developed throughout the study.

Kriegsman's newspaper reviews on Martha Graham, George Balanchine, Erick

Hawkins, Mark Morris and Bill T. Jones form the bulk of primary source material for the

study. An effort was made to retrieve all published reviews written about these artists

during Kriegsman's career as performing arts critic for the Washington Post, from 1974-

1996. Kriegsman wrote over 900 articles referencing these artists during that period. All

900-plus articles were reviewed for the study.

Other primary sources include notes, articles, and other materials from the Alan

M. and Sali Ann Kriegsman collection at the Library of Congress, which has recently

been catalogued. The newly available collection provides source materials belonging to

the critic himself. An interview was also conducted with Alan Kriegsman, to gain insight

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. context extrinsic historical © social context © context aesthetic

Carol FIGURE 1 by other McKay same work companies (1983. UCLA)

work of work choreo grapher MCKAY'S THEORY OF DANCE CRITICISM What kind of context of kind What does the use?critic MCKAY'S THEORY OF DANCE CRITICISM company repertoire of (D only specific intrinsic performance

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FIGURE 2

NEW MODEL FOR INTERPRETING CRITICISM: SYNTHESIS OF BANES’ AND MCKAY’S MODELS

The Categories of Criticism Analyzed for Intrinsic and Extrinsic Writing

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into his personal commentary on the role of the dance critic and on his approach to

writing reviews.

Thesis Overview

This thesis contains the following major sections:

Chapter I : An Introduction to the Study. The purpose of the study and the

problems addressed are discussed. The importance of the study and its limitations are

delineated.

Chapter 2: The Practice of Dance Criticism. This chapter discusses possible

purposes for writing dance criticism. Different types of dance criticism are discussed,

and two theories, which help categorize dance criticism, are defined.

Chapter 3: Issues Inherent in Writing Dance Criticism. This chapter examines

metacritical debate on the role of the dance critic.

Chapter 4: The Professional Background of Alan M. Kriegsman. This chapter

gives a brief biographical sketch of Kriegsman's career.

Chapter 5: The Use of Description in Kriegsman's Criticism. The way

Kriegsman writes descriptively is analyzed in this chapter.

Chapter 6: The Use of Interpretation in Kriegsman's Criticism. How Kriegsman

uses interpretation in his criticism is discussed in this chapter.

Chapter 7: The Use of Evaluation in Kriegsman's Criticism: This chapter

analyzes how Kriegsman uses evaluation in his reviews.

Chapter 8: The Use of Contextualization in Kriegsman's Criticism. A discussion

of Kriegsman's use of contextual elements is examined.

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Chapter 9: Summary. A general picture of Kriegsman as a critic is established.

References and

Appendix conclude the thesis.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER 2

THE PRACTICE OF DANCE CRITICISM

Introduction

Criticism plays a special role in dance, perhaps more so than in any of the other

arts. The dance critic faces the challenge of writing about an art that is immediate and

temporary. Visual art, painting and sculpture remain to be studied and repeatedly viewed

after the initial creative act. Theater and music have scripts and scores that aid in

interpretation and repeat performances. Dance exists in complete form only while it is

being performed, and is often reduced and flattened by attempts at preservation. Video is

incomplete at best, lacking in detail or failing to give a complete view of what the

choreographer was able to achieve. Dance critics, writing about dance, must capture a

kinetic art through words. How is this possible? Dance critics have answered this

question differently, coming up with a variety of solutions to the challenge of writing

about dance. While often writing with different purposes in mind, the critic, in the act of

putting dance to paper, helps preserve past performances for posterity while providing a

continued discussion and scholarship around an ephemeral art form.

Professional critics in all fields cite a variety of purposes for writing criticism.

Wendolyn Rae Oliver, in her doctoral dissertation entitled Dance Criticism in Education:

An Event-Centered Pedagogical Model for College providesStudents, a number of

purposes for dance criticism:

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Among them [the purposes for dance criticism] are reporting what is current, documentation, illumination and education, creating an audience for dance, creating a language for the discussion of dance, and maintaining standards. Besides serving the above functions, dance criticism may be written primarily for the education of the writer.1

Critics, depending on the purpose they see for their work, or in some cases on the purpose

of the newspaper, journal or magazine they publish in, write accordingly. A critic might

act as a consumer guide, telling readers what they feel is worth seeing or what isn’t,

which can have commercial ramifications for the dance company and may possibly

influence attendance at a dance event. Critics may also write with the goal of

documenting the dance as someone who has experienced it first-hand, preserving their

accounts of current performers or of social or historical events of importance to the work

in question. Some critics may feel they write to increase awareness about the art of

dance, to give more visibility to dance in general, and hopefully to create an audience for

works being performed. Often critics are called upon to act as mediators, providing a

link between readers and the performance in question, which may arise out of a culture

alien to the one viewing the work. As stated above by Oliver, critics may feel an

additional responsibility to maintain standards in the art of dance. If they are familiar

with the work of a particular choreographer, they may feel qualified to judge how

repeated performances of a work measure up to those of the past. They also may

comment on the body of an artist’s work, noticing trends and evaluating them.

For many critics, like Alan M. Kriegsman, dance critic for the Washington Post

from 1966 to 1996, the main purpose of criticism is educational. Criticism with an

1 Oliver, Wendolyn Rae, Dance Criticism in Education: An Event-Centered Pedagogical Model for College Students (Ph.D. diss., Columbia University Teachers College, 1993), I.

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educational purpose seeks to inform readers about the artist or the work being performed.

The critic may give the reader background biographical information about a

choreographer, helping the reader understand his or her artistic development, and

possibly illuminate motivation behind artistic choices. The critic may also place the work

of art in a social, historical, or political context, educating the audience on considerations

surrounding the work of a choreographer. All criticism, according to critic Arlene Croce,

provides the educational function of helping people to be able to talk about dance and to

describe and analyze what they see:

I think people have trouble identifying what they get unconsciously. Dance gets really fogged up when people begin to talk about it, because their systematizing their experience and commenting on it aren’t kinesthetic. In a way, dance critics are teaching deaf/mute people how to talk.2

Most critics strive to achieve some, if not several, of the above purposes possible in

dance criticism. Many, like Alan Kriegsman, see the act of writing criticism as a creative

act in itself.

Types of Dance Criticism

Dance criticism appears in a variety of publications, encompassing journals,

magazines, newspapers and anthologies. Criticism written for dance or art journals is

generally written for a scholarly audience familiar with dance, and can be characterized

by academic language, length, and subject matter. Journal critics are often at liberty to

discuss issues at a greater depth than possible for most newspaper critics, and sometimes

1 Ibid., 18.

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approach issues beyond the work of a choreographer or a performance at hand. Articles

in journals may approach topics such as critical or performance theory, or may focus on a

critical perspective toward a body of work or genre. A journal article, for example, may

approach the genre of Japanese "butoh" dance from a political, anthropological, or

feminist perspective.

Newspaper criticism, in contrast, is often limited in length by the space

constraints of the paper it is written for and often under tight deadlines. Because the

audience may or may not know anything about the dance artist discussed, newspaper

criticism tends to be more accessible to the general public and less academic. Newspaper

criticism has the advantage of being immediate; a critic can see a performance and have a

review out to the public the next day, or soon thereafter. This flexibility, not possible for

journal articles, allows the newspaper critic to anticipate performances. A critic may

write a "preview," or an article that is published before a performance, to alert and

educate the readership about the upcoming event. In general, newspaper criticism covers

current performances and forms an immediate first-hand type of dance documentation.

Magazine criticism, like newspaper criticism, is written to appeal to a broad audience, but

is published less frequently. Because of this, magazine criticism cannot give immediate

feedback, or perform the "consumer guide" role newspaper criticism can. Often

magazine articles will encompass topics broader in scope; they may look at the whole

season of a particular choreographer, or comment on trends in dance during the year.

Anthologies form another type of dance criticism. Often anthologies are

comprised of articles written by a newspaper critic, who compiles them in book form

with a written introduction. Articles contained within anthologies are often chosen by the

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critic to illustrate reviews about a certain time period in dance, or to focus on a specific

topic. Anthologies have been published on many major dance critics, including Edwin

Denby, Arlene Croce, Deborah Jowitt, and Marcia Siegel. Anthologies are useful

because they help collect scattered articles by a single critic together in an easily

accessible and more permanent form, and also because they preserve the first hand

perspective of the time when they were written, becoming a history of the critic's

viewing, of the choreographers covered, and of the cultural scene.

Criticism and the Internet

The Internet will undoubtedly change dance criticism in the future. Because

newspapers are now available online, the potential audience for a critic is infinitely more

broad, changing "newspaper criticism" to "electronic criticism." By logging on the Web

site for the Washington Post at www.washigntonpost.com, it is possible to access reviews

of performances in Washington D.C. anywhere from Rhinelander, Wisconsin, to Seoul,

Korea. Although advances in computer technology have yet to drastically change the

face of newspaper criticism as it appears in print, the internet has already amplified the

possibilities for those interested in learning more about what is available. Researchers

can search the Web for articles written by specific critics and can look for reviews of

specific performances or artists. They can find chat rooms that discuss critical issues

online, or may join a Iistserv that would notify them via email of upcoming performances

or events.

The Internet will also undoubtedly influence dialogue between critics, scholars,

choreographers and others. Traditionally, such dialogue has taken place in scholarly

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journals or in theses and dissertations, but is now possible online, where scholars, critics,

and artists from around the globe can communicate more quickly and easily.

Because Alan BCriegsman wrote the majority of his criticism for a newspaper, the

Washington Post, this thesis deals most directly with newspaper criticism. All references

to Alan Kriegsman's criticism, unless otherwise noted, refer to his newspaper criticism.

Two Theories of Criticism

Debate among critics and scholars about the nature of dance criticism as a

discipline is called metacritical debate. Metacritical debate may center around whether or

not criticism should be objective and factual on one hand, or subjective and

emotional/interpretive on the other. It may also center around the focus of the critic—

does the critic look only at the performance at hand, or does he or she take into

consideration external social or environmental factors? To better understand the issues

involved in metacritical debate, it is helpful to define the elements of criticism.

Sally Banes, in her article entitled "On Your Fingertips: Writing Dance

Criticism," defines criticism as having four elements: description (what did the dancers

do--what does the work look and feel like?); interpretation (what they communicated-

what does the dance mean?); evaluation (was it good or bad—how remarkable was it?);

and contextual explanation (where does the work come from aesthetically and/or

historically?).3

To further illuminate Banes' model, it is useful to look at her four categories as

3 Sally Banes, Writing Dancing in the Age o f Postmodernism (Hanover: University of New England Press, 1994), 25.

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existing on a continuum between intrinsic and extrinsic criticism, which Carol McKay

defines in her Masters thesis entitled Suggested Categories for Dance Criticism.4

Intrinsic criticism focuses on the performance at hand, commenting on the performance

and dancers of a specific performance event only. Extrinsic criticism, on the other end of

the continuum, takes into account external factors such as the environment in which the

dance was performed. Extrinsic criticism can be extremely broad, commenting on the

repertory of a choreographer, or even on the social or political considerations surrounding

a choreographer's work. McKay places intrinsic and extrinsic criticism into seven

categories:

[dance criticism]"... may include, depending upon the subjective choices of the critic, and possible space/time considerations, one or more of the seven major categories of dance criticism, namely: 1. - specific performance only 2. - specific performance only in the context of company repertoire 3. - work in context of the choreographer's oeuvre 4. - performance as compared to other companies who have performed the same work 5. - performance in aesthetic context 6. - performance in social context 7. - performance in broad historical context5

McKay mentions that criticism may include more than one of the categories listed above.

In other words, a critic may comment on elements intrinsic or extrinsic to the dance

performance within the same review. McKay's model is especially effective when

applied to the category of contextualization, listed by Banes above; however, intrinsic

and extrinsic factors affect Banes' other three categories as well. By looking at Banes'

and McKay's model together, it is possible to understand and analyze the work of a dance

4 Carol McKay, Suggested Categories for Dance Criticism (Master’s thesis, UCLA, 1983), 23. 5 Ibid.

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critic. A visual model has been provided (Figure 2) to illustrate how Banes' and McKay's

models can be combined. In this paper, the two models combined create a tool for

understanding the criticism of Alan M. Kriegsman. They also function as a tool to

illustrate the issues involved in metacritical debate.

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ISSUES INHERENT IN WRITING DANCE CRITICISM

Metacritical Debate on the Role of the Critic

Metacritical debate takes place between scholars or critics on the nature of

criticism, and in this case, dance criticism specifically. By examining some of the issues

surrounding the act of writing criticism, it is possible to further illuminate the choices an

individual critic makes when writing. Although it is not possible to comprehensively

discuss metacritical debate concerning dance writing, a brief look at some of the issues

involved will help illustrate how Alan Kriegsman fits into the broad scope of critical

discussion in the field.

The Emotive vs. Analytical Critic

Consider the following quote from Edrie Ferdun concerning the role of a dance

critic taken from an article in Dance Magazine:

... [the critic] must be able to excite the public to become an audience and then help them to relive, savor, and continue to find meaning in the experience. This task does require a creative genius similar to that of a poet, as has been suggested by Walter Sorell.1

Having read Ferdun, consider the following quote from Joan B. Cass, taken from her

article in Dance Scope:

1 Edrie M. Ferdun, "Of Criticism and Dance," Dance Magazine, February 1967,51.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. There is certainly room for a poet's response to a dancer-- as there is for a painter's. Who will deny the value of Walkowitz's drawings of Isadora Duncan? Yet to define the critic's function primarily as a creative, poetic act is to miss out on the essential aspects of the job.

The debate centering on the contradictory quotes above concerns one aspect of the role of

the dance critic. Both Ferdun and Cass write in response to a previous article written by

Walter Sorell, entitled "To Be A Critic," which also appeared in the journal Dance

SCOPE. Sorell makes the argument that "only the poet can do full justice to the dance,

by evoking images suggestive of the work itself... he can communicate the core of his

experience... He can quicken our sensual response to the sensual brilliance of the

dancers...."3 Sorell makes the argument that poetry, an abstract art form like dance, can

best evoke the emotive aspects of a dance performance. He suggests that the difficulty

inherent in transferring a kinetic art form into a verbal one may solved through the

evocative language of poetry, which can help to convey the felt experience of attending a

performance.

Sorell's point, echoed by Edrie Ferdun in the first quote above, highlights one

debate surrounding the primary function of the critic. Should a critic recreate a dance

performance emotively? Joan B. Cass, who counters this assertion in the second quote,

acknowledges that there is a place for poetic description when writing about dance, but

feels that Sorell and Ferdun "...leave the final impression that the use of the mind in

evaluating dances serves mainly to detract from the aesthetic appreciation of the art

form."4 Cass believes that "the usefulness of the critic will hinge on the extent to which

2 Joan B. Cass, "The Critic as Thinker," Dance Scope (fall 1965): 32. 3 Ibid. 4 Ibid.

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he is reasonable and analytical, and not on the extent to which he adds poetic impressions

to dance experiences."5 Cass feels critics should not concern themselves primarily with

recreating the experience of attending the performance for the readers. Instead, the critic

should help educate the public about dance through insight, analysis, and evaluation.

The debate above centers around two possible approaches for dance criticism:

emotive/re-creative writing or analytical writing. Most critics fall somewhere in between

the two poles, using emotive or evocative language at times, while including

interpretation or analysis of the work to aid the reader in understanding the performance.

Diana Theodores, in her book First We Take Manhattan, discusses the criticism of four

contemporary New York dance critics: Marcia Siegel, Deborah Jowitt, Arlene Croce,

and Nancy Goldner. She writes:

...the permission to be passionate and majestically subjective in dance criticism, the prolonged attention to description and analysis- the virtual inhaling of dances, and the reading of dances for what they in themselves could offer up for meaning, for theory, for contextual considerations-these things were their legacy.6

Theodores characterizes the criticism of the four New York critics above as being

"passionately and majestically subjective."7 She explains how these four critics use

"poetic or sensual description which uses imagery to offer up the essence of a dance and

the sensation of its effects" and "re-creative description which is kinesthetically intuited,

action-based and responsive to a choreographer's unique language."8 The four critics

don't limit themselves to poetic and re-creative description, however. According to

5 Ibid., 33. 6 Diana Theodores, First We Take Manhattan: Four American Women and the New York School o f Dance Criticism (Amsterdam: Harwood Academic Publishers, 1996), I. 7Ibid. 8Ibid., 9.

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Theodores, they also make use of "analytical description which traces the effect of a

dance to its factual sources in the choreography and performance."9 The critics described

by Theodores write poetic, sensual, and re-creative description, while also providing an

analytical component to their criticism. Kriegsman, like the four New York critics

mentioned above, uses a mixture of poetic description, interpretation, and analysis in his

criticism.

The Descriptive vs. Interpretive Critic

Description, as noted above, can be poetic and emotive, helping the reader to

understand what the experience of attending a performance felt like. Sally Banes'

definition of description given in Chapter 2 notes this purpose for description, adding that

description can also be used by the critic to describe what dancers do during a

performance. Describing the actions of dancers can entail anything from detailing

entrances and exits, to giving accounts of specific movements or of the quality of the

movement. Banes, in her essay "On Your Fingertips: Writing Dance Criticism,"

illustrates how the use of description came to the forefront of metacritical debate in the

1960's:

In arts criticism generally, description was often used in the 1960's as an antidote to what was seen as an overemphasis by previous generations on evaluation and literary interpretation. In dance, this approach to criticism fit well with certain dominant and emerging choreographic practices. For instance, although they were unlike in other respects, both Cunningham and the generation of early postmodern dancers that followed and rebelled against Cunningham refused to pinpoint meaning in their dances.10

9 Ibid. 10 Sally Banes, Writing Dancing in the Age ofPostmodernism (Hanover: University of New England Press, 1994), 28.

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As modem dance began to change, critics had to change their style to keep up. Michael

Snell describes his perception of the absence of meaning in Cunningham's dances:

Cunningham, insisting on the kinetic integrity of the body, isolated from the necessity of any extraneous interpretation, took the hardest of all possible paths. He went beyond the purity of plotless Balanchine and Aston's "Symphonic Variations," beyond the purity of musical expression itself...He chose to find the root, the atomic quality of his craft.11

As Snell illustrates, Cunningham and the postmodern choreographers who followed him

explored the possibilities inherent in movement, de-emphasizing psychological or

emotional content in their work. Critics writing about these artists, consequently, were

faced with dances that resisted interpretation. In her famous 1964 essay called "Against

Interpretation," Susan Sontag rallied for descriptive criticism to meet the needs of a

changing era:

Like the fumes of the automobile and of heavy industry which befoul the urban atmosphere, the effusion of interpretations of art today poisons our sensibilities. ...Interpretation is the revenge of the intellect upon art. Even more. It is the revenge of the intellect upon the world.12

Sontag’s essay called for critics to stop searching for content in art, in order to see the art

for what it was. Maybe, Sontag hypothesized, there was no content in art at all.13

Interpretation and evaluation, it was felt during the 1960s were "hierarchical and

authoritarian, closing off alternative meanings and values" and "denying the physical,

sensory pleasures of art.”14

11 Michael Snell, "Cunningham and the Critics," Ballet Review 3, no. 6 (1971): 22-23. 12 Susan Sontag, "Against Interpretation," Against Interpretation (New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1966) p. 7, quoted in Sally Banes, Writing Dancing 29. 13 Susan Sontag came from and reacted to the "Chicago school" of criticism. For more information on the "Chicago school," see R. S. Crane, Critics and Criticism; Ancient and Modern (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1952), 1-24. 14 Ibid.

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O f course there were others who disagreed with Sontag and the movement toward

description in criticism, offering another side to the metacritical debate. Roger Copeland,

in his article "Dance Criticism and the Descriptive Bias," written for the Dance Theatre

Journal, laments the effects of the emphasis on description in criticism:

Deborah Jowitt, Marcia Siegel and Arlene Croce all came of age during the formalist heyday of Balanchine, Cunningham, and Taylor. An aesthetic that emphasizes movement-as-an-end-in-itself has more to gain (and less to lose) from an essentially descriptive criticism than does the dance theatre o f Pina Bauch or those non-Westem dances, so central to today's multi-cultural mandate, which cannot be adequately 'described' without paying a great deal of attention to the cultural fabric into which they are inextricably woven.15

Copeland argues that a critical approach based on description is not beneficial for all

types of dance. "Formalist" dances like those of Cunningham and Balanchine, which

concern themselves with form rather than content, suffer less from a descriptive bias.

Non-Westem art forms, argues Copeland, are at a disservice when criticism about them

relies heavily on description. For audiences unfamiliar with the type of dance presented,

interpretation or contextual information is helpful to aid in understanding. Curtis Carter,

in Dance Scope, adds to the debate on description by stating:

Dance is not just physical movement, any more than a painting is merely canvas and pigment, or a poem is the physical marks on a page. Dance is myths, ideas, feelings, as well as movement, and it has to be these things in order to be art. The minimalist approach to dance criticism has made it unfashionable to talk about ideas, meanings, even the feelings associated with the dance, but I must challenge this minimalist view on the ground that it operates on too narrow a view of the dance as a form of art.16

15 Roger Copeland, "Dance Criticism and the Descriptive Bias," Dance Theatre Journal 10, no. 3 (Spring/Summer 1993): 26-27. 16 Curtis L. Carter, "Some Notes on Aesthetics and Dance Criticism," Dance Scope 10, no. 2 (Spring/Summer 1976): 26.

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Carter hints that the emphasis on description has actually performed a disservice to the

field of dance scholarship, de-emphasizing discussion on meaning or search for

understanding. Copeland echoes his concerns: "the dance world pays a considerable

price for this intense emphasis on vivid, loving description—for it often seems to preclude

rather than generate the sort of self-reflexiveness that enriches the criticism of almost

every other art." I 7 Copeland quotes Deborah Jowitt, who in the introduction to her

critical anthology Time and the Dancing Image, states: "Those of us who write about

dance sometimes find that in our anxiety to capture and chronicle a notoriously

ephemeral art we do it an inadvertent disservice: we focus so intently on it that we sever

it from the culture that spawned it and which it serves."18

Description is useful and even necessary in criticism to provide the reader with a

sense of what the performance was like, but description alone doesn't provide a structure

for the reader to use when thinking about the work or trying to understand it. Critics vary

on their use of description, and may vary on their usage of it when writing about one

artist or another. Alan Kriegsman, a contemporary of Deborah Jowitt, Marcia Siegel and

Arlene Croce, differs in that he de-emphasizes description consistently in his criticism, as

will be seen in Chapter 5.

Contextual Information in Criticism

Context in criticism is broken down by Carol McKay's model, shown in Figure I.

The model illustrates a way of seeing the intrinsic and extrinsic contextual factors a critic

17 Copeland, "Dance Criticism and the Descriptive Bias," 28. u Ibid., 26.

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may include when writing a review. Metacritical debate on context calls into question

how much external information is appropriate. Julie Van Camp brings this issue to light

in her article "Anti-Geneticism and Critical Practice in Dance," by stating:

Dance critics often use information external to a performance to identify and separately evaluate the creative aspects of dance (composition of music and movement; design of scenery and costumes) and the interpretive aspects (performance by dancers and musicians; execution of scenery and costume designs). Their evaluation may also take into account production factors not directly perceivable in a performance, including the type of floor, rehearsal time, illness, and injury. These critical practices are problematic for an anti-geneticist theory of aesthetic value, the best known of which is that of philosopher Monroe Beardsley.19

Monroe Beardsley, a proponent of anti-geneticist theory, does not "count as

characteristics of an aesthetic object [like a dance] no characteristics that depend upon

knowledge of their causal conditions, whether physical or psychological."20 Beardsley

and Van Camp question the role causal "production factors" should have in a critical

review of a dance performance. Van Camp defines "production factors" as being both

physical performance factors, which influence the physical performance of a dancer (i.e.

a springy dance floor), and external production factors, which are "all remaining factors

which cannot be discerned in the perceivable performance," like the amount of rehearsal

time before a show, or the financial workings of the company.21 In her essay, Van Camp

admits that Beardsley's philosophy of anti-geneticism as applied to dance may be seen by

most critics as too extreme, but she argues that the argument he makes is beneficial for

dance criticism as a whole. Critics, by keeping the theory in mind, may help to self-

19 Julie Van Camp, ”Anti-Geneticism and Critical Practice in Dance," Dance Research Journal 13, no. 1 (Fail 1980): 29. 20 Ibid. 21 rur^

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regulate against what she sees as irresponsible criticism. According to Van Camp, critics

should not use the circumstances of the performance space to judge the creative aspects

of a performance, and should not rely too heavily on personal information about a dancer

when evaluating a performance. She elaborates by writing:

Dance critics often take into consideration production factors which are not perceivable on stage but which are relevant to the perceivable performance in important ways. To be consistent with both actual critical practice and anti-geneticism, these production factors should be considered legitimate evidence for assessing the skill of the artists but not for evaluating the actual performances.22

Van Camp admits that external information may be valuable or important for the critic to

comment about, and may be helpful to the readers of the critical review. Critics may feel

the need to comment about the background or training of a particular artist and how that

influences what they expect a performance to be like. Critics may also wish to give a

reader the "inside scoop," letting them know what is going on behind the scenes; why a

frustrated dancer may have left one company for another, etc. Although the readership

looks to the critic for all of this information, Van Camp argues that these comments

"should be kept separate from the evaluation of a particular performance, and should not

detract from the performance itself."23

Most critics who provide a great deal of "external production factors" in their

criticism do so in an effort to educate their audience on the choreographer and their

interests or concerns. Alan Kriegsman, who admits that one o f his main goals in writing

criticism is to educate his readership, continually provides background information on the

22 Ibid., 31. 23 Ibid., 30.

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choreographers he covers, including biographical sketches as well as comparisons with

past work. A closer look at Kriegsman's use of internal and external factors, and how

they affect his evaluation of performances, will be shown later with the analysis of his

critical work on five different choreographers. Carol McKay's model is expanded in this

study to encompass all of Banes' categories for criticism; the idea of writing intrinsically

and extrinsically about a performance is applied to Kriegsman's use of description,

interpretation, and evaluation, in addition to his use of context.

Critical Bias

Should critics reflect personal biases when writing about a work? This

metacritical question has perhaps spurred more debate than others previously discussed.

Most critics feel that it is impossible to write a review, which is in some degree a

personal reaction to a work of art, without including a degree of personal bias. Joan

Acocella, in and article written for Dance Ink entitled "How Critics Work," argues that:

Really, it's childish to ask that a critic be without biases. Taste, some sense of judgement about the field, is a large part of what a magazine or newspaper is buying when hiring a critic. Ail one wants is that those tastes should not be unduly restricting. What people should worry about is not critics who have biases, but critics who have no biases, no fidelity to their own experience, and who therefore are willing to go with what the publicity machine tells them.24

Acocella raises the valid point that employers of critics often look for someone who has a

set of personal standards, cultivated through experience, which they use to judge

performances they write about. Readers also want to hear an educated opinion, or a

24 Joan Acocella, "How Critics Work," Dance Ink 3, no. 2 (Summer 1992): 8.

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personal reaction to or judgement of a work.

Critics must be wary, however, of letting personal biases interfere with their

reviewing of a work of art. Arlene Croce, former dance critic for the New Yorker,

sparked a flurry of metacritical debate from art critics of all disciplines when she took a

highly controversial personal stance against the work Still/Here by Bill T. Jones. Jones

incorporated movement generated from workshops with terminally ill people into the

choreography for the piece. Croce, in a published "review," refused to see the

performance on the grounds that Bill T. Jones was producing "victim art." Critics of all

disciplines responded to her stance, some agreeing with her, others opposed to the idea of

writing a review of a work without having had the experience of seeing it.

Although it may be easy to see the personal attitudes of a critic, it is not always

easy to see underlying assumptions a critic has about art which influence their writing. In

an article that appears in Dance Scope, Marcia Siegel comments:

Beneath every critic's evident motives are his or her attitudes toward art and artists. This implies more than taste, although one's taste forms around these underlying codes. It soon becomes clear, reading a critic, that he or she loves glitter and sleaze, or cringes from sex, or is a sucker for virtuosity. What is less clear, but more influential on the way a critic uses the journalistic platform, is the collection of art-moralistic assumptions from which he or she works. ...Is movement to be considered an accessory to the dance, like a costume; a primary language with its own meaning; a vehicle for getting at verbal meaning? Should art be political or must it not concern itself with politics? Is the artist special; ordinary; oppressed; anointed; subversive?^5

The "art moralistic" assumptions Siegel mentions greatly influence the writing of a critic

about the artist or performance at hand. Those who study criticism should "figure out

25 Marcia B. Siegel, "Education of a Dance Critic: The Bonsai and the Lumberjack," Dance Scope 15, no. 1 (1981): 31.

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how critics see and how they convey what they see" to understand the moralistic

assumptions underlying their work.26 A critic’s background may influence their

“moralistic assumptions,” as might their age, gender, race and culture. Burt Supree, in an

article written for The Village Voice, notes his own bias relates to his age and when he

began writing criticism:

.. .a critic is very much of his or her time. We usually have the closest affinity for the kinds of work we were drawn to early on, work that embodied our own questions and that we had to wrestle with in forming our own ideas and standards. It can be uncomfortable to yield to an alien sensibility, particularly the kind that yanks our certainties out from under us.27

The era in which a critic lives and the culture or climate of their surroundings clearly help

determine their tastes, and consequently their biases. By looking at Alan Kriegsman’s

criticism in depth, the aim is to examine and discuss some of the assumptions and biases

inherent in his writing.

Summary

In this chapter, several metacritical debates on dance criticism have been briefly

outlined to provide a greater understanding of the issues involved when writing criticism.

Critics may use emotive description to recreate the feeling of experiencing a work of

choreography, or they may decide that criticism should be more analytical and factual,

with less emphasis on poetic imagery. Critics may emphasize description of the

movement rather than interpretation of what that movement means. Critics vary on the

26 Ibid., 33. 27 Wendolyn Rae Oliver, Dance Criticism in Education: An Event-Centered Pedagogical Model for College Students (Ph.D. diss., Columbia University Teachers College, 1993), 106.

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amount of commentary they include on matters intrinsic to a performance, or relevant to

the specific performance only, and on matters extrinsic to a performance, or matters

external to the performance at hand (financial status of the company, repertoire of a

company). All critics operate with some biases, which may include moralistic

assumptions about what they feel art should be (i.e. political, subversive, etc.).

The criticism of any critic can be analyzed to see how they answer the

metacritical issues raised above. Their answer to these questions, in part, has to do with

the demands placed on them by the publication they write for and the editor of the

publication. An editor or publication may require a critic to use language that is easily

accessible to its readers, and may limit the length of a review. Consequently, dance

critics writing for a newspaper may be required to limit their use of technical dance

vocabulary. Editors may determine the general purpose of the critical review; they may

want the critic to serve as a “consumer guide,” providing a clear judgement on a

performance.28 The same critic’s style may differ, depending on the publication for

which he or she is writing.

28 Ibid., 96.

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THE PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND OF ALAN M. KRIEGSMAN

Alan M. Kriegsman was bom February 28, 1928, in New York City. During his

high school years in Far Rockaway, a suburban area of New York City, he developed an

interest in math, science and classical music that he would continue to cultivate

throughout his life. His college career began at the Massachusetts Institute of

Technology (M.I.T.), where he completed two semesters until uncertainties about his

career led him to take a break from school to join the U.S. army from 1946-1947. After

his period of service in the army, he transferred to Columbia University where he

completed his undergraduate studies, briefly flirting with the idea of becoming a concert

pianist. He continued on at Columbia to pursue a Master of Arts in musicology, which he

completed in 1953. He subsequently completed two years of coursework for a Ph.D., and

was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship in musicology at the University of Vienna from

1956-1957.

Kriegsman’s journalistic career began in the late 1950s when he wrote music

reviews for the Musical Courier in New York. Although he was not compensated, he

was eager to attend performances for free, and to be published. In 1960 he jumped at the

chance to work for the San Diego Union, where he served as the music, drama and dance

critic from 1960-1965. In characteristically modest fashion, Kriegsman describes how

fortuitous it was that he was hired by the paper: “I couldn’t type, and I had never been to

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California. I began as the music critic, but began writing about theater and dance as

well.”1 Having no pervious experience writing about dance and having seen few dance

performances, Kriegsman credits his work at the San Diego Union with sparking his

interest in the art form. For the five years he worked in San Diego, he educated himself

about dance by “seeing an amazing amount of dance of all types. I attended classes,

rehearsals, and choreography sessions.”2 The San Diego Union provided him with a two-

week paid trip to New York every year, which exposed him to the emerging dance scene

there. By his own admission, Kriegsman admits “I never expected to be a critic,” and

especially not a critic focused specifically on dance.3

In 1965 he returned to New York to become the Assistant to the President at the

Julliard School, where his duties included press and public relations, editing school

publications, teaching a criticism course, and adjudicating scholarship performance

auditions. At Julliard, Kriegsman benefited from exposure to dance artists like Anna

Sokolow, who shared her understanding of dance and choreography with him. He

continued to publish articles on various topics for magazines during his tenure at Julliard.

After a time, Kriegsman began to think about the possibility of writing for a

newspaper again. Having always felt the primary purpose of criticism was to educate,

Kriegsman realized the potential of the newspaper critic. As a teacher, Kriegsman was

able to affect the students in his classroom; as a newspaper critic, Kriegsman felt he had

the potential to reach multitudes more. When the opportunity became available,

Kriegsman left New York for Washington, and became the performing arts critic for the

1 Alan Kriegsman, interview by author, tape recording, Chevy Chase, Md., 7 September 1999. 2 Ibid. 3 Ibid.

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Washington Post, where he covered classical music, movies, theater, dance, television,

and avant-garde performances in all fields. In 1971, Washington benefited from the

construction of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Wolf Trap

Performing Arts complex, and the corresponding influx of dance events that followed.

By 1974, the Washington Post determined they needed a full time dance critic to cover

the increased dance performances in the area. Kriegsman saw an opportunity and took it:

I was second string in other fields of criticism. In dance I could have a turf of my own. I was interested in new work. In dance, I saw the opportunity to deal with freshly created material. At that time, there was more of that in dance than in any other field.4

Kriegsman became the only full-time dance critic in the history of the Washington Post.

He was in the unique position of writing criticism for a major paper during an exciting

and challenging time in dance.

Kriegsman was witness to the “dance boom,” which occurred in modem dance

from the 1960s through the 1970s. The period was a time of intense creative energy and

experimentation in modem dance, when previously established norms for the art form

were being constantly tested. Kriegsman relished attending performances by

choreographers of the avant-garde; he wrote reviews of many “postmodern” dance artists

including Twyla Tharp, Meredith Monk, David Gordon and Trisha Brown.

The creativity was infectious, affecting classical ballet as well. In 1975,

Kriegsman attended and reviewed a historic performance by Rudolf Nureyev, a

classically trained Russian ballet superstar, who performed with Martha Graham’s

modem dance company. The performance was indicative of the increased cross-

4 Ibid.

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pollination between the ballet and modem dance that would continue to grow and affect

both styles. During his lengthy career Kriegsman was able to witness the development

and conclusion of the careers of dance giants such as George Balanchine, choreographer

and director of the New York City' Ballet, Martha Graham, Fred Astaire and many others.

Alan Kriegsman continued as chief dance critic until he retired in 1996, when he was

named Critic Emeritus by the Washington Post.

Alan Kriegsman has received many honors for his writing. In 1976 he won the

Pulitzer Prize in Criticism, which was the first and last time the award in the criticism

category was given for writings about dance in the twentieth century. He won the

Washington Review of the Arts award for outstanding writing on new arts in 1979, the

Metropolitan Area Mass Media award for his Washington Post appreciation of Fred

Astaire in 1988, and the “Dance in the District” award for outstanding contributions to

the dance field in the Washington, D.C., area in 1995. He was one of eight American

participants in an international symposium on Russian influences on twentieth century

choreography, which was convened in St. Petersburg in 1995; he presented a paper on the

career and dance works of Bronislava Nijinska. In 1990 he partnered with Gus

Solomons, Jr. to design and direct the first Dance Critics Association (DCA)

Multicultural Scholarship Program in Dance Criticism.

Kriegsman has served three terms as a member of the board of directors of DCA

and has served numerous times as visiting faculty for the Critics Conference at the

American Dance Festival. He is a member of M.I.T’s Visiting Committees on the Arts

and Humanities, the Leadership Group for the National Dance/Media Project based at

UCLA, and the jury for the annual Pola Nirenska Award administered by the Washington

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Performing Arts Society. He serves on the board of directors for the Merce Cunningham

Dance Foundation, the Choo-San Goh and H. Robert Magee Foundation, and the Dance

Institute of Washington. On four occasions he has served as a member of the Pulitzer

Prize jury in the music, criticism and feature-writing categories.

In addition to his collection of critical writing for the Washington Post, Alan

Kriegsman authored a 1975 monograph on ballerina Suzanne Farrell in the Dance

Horizon “Spotlight” series. His radio and television appearances include a 1983 PBS

McNeil-Lehrer special tribute to George Balanchine. His writings on the performing arts

have appeared in the Reporter, the Saturday Review, Cultural Affairs, Horizon and

Musical Quarterly. His research and writings are archived in the Alan M. and Sali Ann

Kriegsman Collection at the Library of Congress, and Alan Kriegsman’s biography

appears in the 1999 edition ofWho's Who in America.

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THE USE OF DESCRIPTION IN KRIEGSMAN'S CRITCISM

Description is one of the four categories of criticism defined by Sally Banes in her

book Writing Dancing in the Age o f Postmodernism. 1 Description defines what the

dancers looked like or what they did during a performance. As discussed in Chapter 3,

description can be emotive or poetic, using imagery to offer up the essence of a dance

and the sensation of its effects, or it can be re-creative or "kinesthetically intuited, action-

based and responsive to a choreographer's unique language," providing information on

the physical nature of the performance.2

Diana Theodores, in her book First We Take Manhattan, discusses the work of

four New York dance critics: Arlene Croce, Nancy Goldner, Deborah Jowitt, and Marcia

Siegel. Theodores defines description as having the following objectives:

The objectives of description in dance criticism appear to be: firstly, the re-creation of the action, the physical facts, in order to establish a framework for interpretation and evaluation; secondly, the creation, through imagery, of the immediacy or kinesthetic experience of dance; thirdly, a means of illuminating the critic's aesthetic values by the nature of the description itself;... fourthly a tool for historic preservation of dance.3

Re-creation of the physical facts of the dance can be included by the critic, as Theodores

1 Sally Banes, Writing Dancing in the Age o f Postmodernism (Hanover: University of New England Press, 1994), 25. 2 Diana Theodores, First We Take Manhattan: Four American Women and the New York School o f Dance Criticism (Amsterdam: Harwood Academic Publishers, 1996), 9. 3 Ibid., 49.

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states above, to provide a basis for other critical functions to take place, namely

interpretation and evaluation. Imagery can be included, in a more poetic type of

description, to capture the visual or emotional experience of attending a performance.

Although critics debate on the type of description a critic should emphasize, poetic

imagery or factual physical description, both choices tells the reader something about the

aesthetic values of the critic, and both help to act as a tool for historic preservation within

the review. Kriegsman's use of description within his reviews helps to shed light on his

aesthetic values, and illuminates his position in the larger metacritical debate.

Kriegsman admits that he feels description has been too heavily emphasized in

dance criticism. He feels that “one has to look for the privileged moments... the

experiential moments that get at the essence of the work...a critic should encapsulate."4

A certain amount of criticism is appropriate, in Kriegsman’s view, to set the scene or the

atmosphere, but criticism should not be relied on to create an accurate record of the

performance. Consequently, Kriegsman de-emphasizes kinetic, re-creative description in

his reviews. He rarely discusses the physical facts of a performance, instead using

description to highlight a specific moment or image, or to give the reader information

about the choreographic structure of a dance work.

Kriegsman outlines the action of Mark Morris’ piece “A Lake” with an

uncharacteristically long passage of physical description about Mikhail Baryshnikov:

4 Kriegsman admits to a personal penchant for de-emphasizing description in Alan Kriegsman, interview by author, tape recording, Chevy Chase, Md., 7 September 1999. It should be noted, however, that the critic's choices are often influenced by the editor of the publication they write for. Newspaper editors often see description as "bad poetry," and edit it out of the text.

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After a spirited opening allegro~in which he’s lifted and repeatedly borne forward as if vaulting a hurdle—and a lively solo cadenza, he’s left on the stage supine, arms flung wide in crucifix fashion. The poignant slow movement that follows has the character of a dirge; Baryshnikov is encircled by a swaying group and unobtrusively drawn offstage as the focus shifts to two other groups of dancers and a dominating motif of melancholy sinking. He rejoins the ensemble at the end of the movement, as the dancers all gradually lapse into stillness and a grave, backward leaning. In the brisk finale, Baryshnikov is paired with the wondrous Kate Johnson (formerly of Paul Taylor’s company), and in an inspired transformation, after the robust traversals of the ensemble, Johnson reintroduces the sinking motif—now no longer as an icon of pathos, but as an emblem of romantic surrender. At the tutti conclusion, all the dancers fall to the floor except Johnson and Baryshnikov, left facing each other.3

This lengthy passage is primarily descriptive, giving the reader a sense of the physical

nature of the choreography. While the writing contains evaluative words like “spirited,”

“lively,” “poignant” and “wondrous,” as well as interpretive elements about the meaning

behind the movement, it is a rare and relatively “pure” example of Kriegsman’s use of

physical description.

In most of Kriegsman’s reviews, description takes a back seat to other critical

operations, namely contextualization and interpretation. The review quoted above was

written after Kriegsman had published an earlier article detailing the history of

Baryshnikov’s White Oak Dance Project, explaining the nature of his collaboration with

choreographer Mark Morris. When covering the actual performance of the troupe two

days later, Kriegsman included the lengthy passage of physical description in his review,

most likely because he had previously given his readership an extensive contextual

understanding of the choreographer.

5 Alan Kriegsman, "Baryshnikov's White Oak Wow; Troupe Packs Wolf Trap for a Memorable Night,” Washington Post, 31 July 1991, B 1.

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The same pattern can be seen with a group of reviews written about

dancer/choreographer Erick Hawkins, when his troupe came to Washington, D.C., for a

series of performances. Kriegsman wrote about Hawkins on October 25, 28 and 29,

1977. The first article emphasizes the context behind new works by Hawkins in the

upcoming performance, including extensive quotes from the choreographer about his

work. The second article emphasizes interpretation and evaluation, while the third is

devoted primarily to physical description of Hawkins’ latest work, “God the Reveller.” A

section of this descriptive passage reads:

With the entrance of the third principal, the black-robed figure of Death,... the work nears its dramatic climax—a mortal tussle between Dionysos and Death in the form of a slow motion wrestling match. Dionysos succumbs, and lies at rest between the knees of Sleep (Russo). Three fearsomely masked Titans hover over him and perform a stylized dismemberment, gulping down his entrails (red, liver-like props). A quartet of female mourners, strands of hair, like frozen tears, over his prostrate body.6

The passage helps illustrates the fine line between physical description and poetic or

evocative description. Kriegsman compares the hair of the female mourners to frozen

tears, creating an image for the mind’s eye out of poetic metaphor. The language used in

the description gives a sense of the emotion behind the choreographic moment. Clearly

Kriegsman is not just reporting the physical action on stage; he gives the reader a sense of

the dramatic tension created by the dancers. He uses the words “hover” and “gulp,”

which are action-based and kinesthetic in nature, but which also contain the essence of

the emotional intent behind them.

6 Alan Kriegsman, "Hawkins in a Revel," Washington Post, 29 October 1987, C l I.

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While Kriegsman de-emphasizes description in general, the descriptive passages

he does include are more poetic or emotive than physically re-creative. Kriegsman

intersperses his reviews with a few short descriptive sentences to let the audience in on a

“privileged moment” of the performance for the reader, or to describe the essence of the

work of a choreographer.7 His poetic description ranges from intrinsic to extrinsic, using

Carol McKay’s seven categories for dance criticism as a model (shown in Figure 1 on

pg. 9). Her model can be thought of as a continuum; at the beginning of the continuum

lies intrinsic criticism, which involves looking at the specific performance only. At the

end of the continuum lies extrinsic criticism, which looks at the broad picture, or

historical context of the performance. Kriegsman sometimes uses intrinsic poetic

description to comment specifically on a performance at hand, as he does with this

passage on Martha Graham’s The Scarlet Letter:

At the climactic height of the dance another visual image powerfully rivets the eye. As the stage light dims to a visceral red, black streamers descend from above, each emblazoned with an aged grotesquely caricatured face, presumably representing the stiff-necked elders o f the Puritan community. Nureyev and Janet Eilber as the adulterous lovers, Dimmesdale and Hester slink after one another in furtive apprehension behind and between the streamers, which bob up and down like ominous jack-o’-lantems.8

In the same review Kriegsman broadens his description to include a more extrinsic focus.

He comments about Graham’s choreographic practices in an aesthetic context, listed by

McKay as number five on her continuum of seven categories for criticism. He writes that

“the laconic abstraction of the choreography, barely hinting at Hawthorne’s narrative,

7 Kriegsman, interview by author. 8 Alan Kriegsman, '"The Scarlet Letter1: A Haunting Premiere for Modem Dance," Washington Post, 24 December 1975, Bl.

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shows Graham once again splitting and splicing time to suit an expressive logic of her

own.”9 Kriegsman captures a key image of the performance of The Scarlet Letter, while

also making a general descriptive comment about Graham’s use of time.

Kriegsman’s descriptive passages about Erick Hawkins are some of his most

poetic and emotive. Again, he uses description to write intrinsically and extrinsically. He

comments on a specific work by Hawkins, “Summer Clouds People,” by writing “it’s one

of those Hawkins pieces in which one becomes particularly conscious of the air the

dancers move through—the traces they leave on it, the currents they disturb or incite, the

delicate weight of it.”10 He also comments, more extrinsically, on the overall nature of

Hawkins’ choreography in this primarily descriptive passage:

In its primal strength and simplicity of utterance, its imperviousness to the winds of fashion, its classical economy and its timelessness, Hawkins’s choreography is entirely a thing unto itself. Among its defining traits are its easeful flow; its evocation of natural surroundings--earth and sky, crag and canyon-amid the most extreme of theatrical stylizations; its fruitful alliance with original music and design; and its distillation of mood into bold, spare, strikingly sculpted and unabashedly heroic imagery.11

The passage is not limited to description alone, but is filled with words that reveal

Kriegsman’s opinion of Hawkins’ work. The choreography has an “easeful flow” and is

“strikingly sculpted.”12 The passage is also interpretive, offering up Kriegsman’s views

on the defining traits of Hawkins’ choreography.

In Chapter 3 metacritical debate about the role of description in dance

9 Ibid. 10 Alan Kriegsman, "A Hawkins Nocturne," Washington Post, 28 February 1991, D4. 11 Alan Kriegsman, "The Height of Hawkins," Washington Post, 27 February 1991, B9. 12 Ibid.

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criticism was discussed. Should the critic be emotive, using poetic language to evoke

images of the dance itself and the feeling of attending the performance? Maybe the critic

should emphasize factual or analytical description of what took place during the

performance, giving the reader an accurate account of the movement and structure of the

work discussed. Kriegsman's answer to these opposing points of view is clear. He gives

himself permission to write poetically, to capture the essence of the dance and its effect

on the audience. Kriegsman allows his passion and admiration for the work of an artist to

come through in his criticism; and often it does so through poetic descriptive passages.

He feels one of the roles of the critic is to be an advocate for the field of dance, and the

ability of a critic to perform this function is lost when a critic attempts to achieve

objectivity.13 Kriegsman states that a critic "can't help but color their writing and speak

with biases or assumptions... it is natural."14

Although Kriegsman includes description that is both poetic and physically re

creative, he de-emphasizes the importance of description in the critical review.

Description, says Kriegsman, "is not always necessary...a certain amount is ok, to set the

scene, the atmosphere, but description is not an accurate record of the performance."13

The emphasis on description in dance criticism began in the 1960s when artists

like Merce Cunningham and the generation of postmodern choreographers who followed

began creating works that refused to pinpoint meaning. Choreographers like "Yvonne

Rainer, for instance, aimed at making dance that was factual, objective, nonstylized, and

13 Kriegsman, interview by author. 14 Ibid. 15

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nonillusionistic."16 Dance critics writing about these artists found that the works often

resisted interpretation; description became a way to comment on the goings on of the

dances. Kriegsman, writing about Cunningham in 1977, gives a contextual account of

Cunningham's life and work, providing the reader with the background information

necessary to understand his old and new choreography, rather than physical description of

the movement. When writing about the work of Lucinda Childs, a postmodern

choreographer interested in ritualistic repeated spinning movement with clear floor

patterns, Kriegsman opts for a simple descriptive and interpretive passage on her work,

stating "at her luminous best, Child makes highly patterned choreography that's like a

diamond turning in the light, mirroring myriad facets and levels."17

Kriegsman de-emphasizes description in favor of interpretation and

contextualizaiton because he feels criticism should "make links and connections with

other works and performances and give historical context, broadening the experience of

attending a performance."18 His critical goal is educational; he wants the reader to learn

about and understand the works of the choreographers he reviews. While including

description in his reviews, he rarely includes detailed re-creative physical description, and

only includes poetic description to capture a key image or moment of the work for the

reader. His description ranges from intrinsic to extrinsic; he comments on specific

performances at times, but also likes to describe or summarize the work of a

choreographer in an extrinsic manner due to his educational goals for his criticism.

16 Banes, Writing Dancing, 29. 17 Alan Kriegsman, "The Pacific at High Tide: Seattle's Troupe's Stellar D.C. Debut," Washington Post, 8 April 1987, C l. 18 Kriegsman, interview by author.

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When writing a tribute to George Balanchine after his death, Kriegsman

comments on the choreographer's style in a passage that is quoted at length because it

seems to summarize his attitude about the use of description:

The fundamental ingredients of the Balanchine style can be fairly well pinpointed. Most notable is the infallible sense of kinetic logic in his work--the sense of connection, relatedness and purpose that makes dance movement seem to flow from phrase to phrase in a natural and inevitable progression. Allied with this was Mr. Balanchine's gift for structural economy—his dancers are often complicated but never unintelligibly dense, and he had an aversion for superficial or merely virtuosic embellishment—he used lifts sparingly, for instance, and always for a specific formal or expressive ends. His basic step vocabulary was the academic one he inherited from his St. Petersburg schooling, but from "Apollo"—his first original work to Stravinsky's music, in 1928-onward through his later "neo-classic" ventures, he introduced more and more daring eccentricities, dislocations and inversions (flexed, rather than pointed, feet, saucily jutting hips, tumed-in postures, odd, gymnastic falls and supports). He loved to exploit the native American speed, energy and athleticism he so vigorously cultivated in his dancers, but he shunned such traditional bravura maneuvers as multiple fouettes or circles of barrel turns. Though he seldom used actual jazz or popular dance steps per se, he could imbue the very texture of a ballet with the rhythmic elan and syncopation of jazz. In ensemble work, he was fond, like Petipa, of shifting intricate geometric configurations, and he was also given to elaborately evolved braidings, loopings and tunnel formations, in which the dancers would weave exquisite, airy tapestries through a linking and unlinking of arms and hands. He also, like any artist of consummate powers, could devise seemingly endless moments of inspired surprise-unexpected shapes, twists or gestures that would suddenly illuminate or epitomize an entire passage. Above all, there was Mr. Balanchine's profound musical sensibility...Stravinsky was a convincing witness on this point: 'To see Balanchine's choreography... is to hear the music with one's eyes..."19

The passage describes Balanchine's style in an extrinsic way. Kriegsman synthesizes

description, interpretation, evaluation, and contextualization in the passage, all with a

19 Alan Kriegsman, "Ballet Choreographer Balanchine Dies at 79," Washington Post, 1 May 1983, Al.

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clear educational focus. Including his own subjective feelings of respect and admiration

for the artist, Kriegsman is intent on providing the reader with an understanding of

Balanchine's choreographic mastery.

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THE USE OF INTERPRETATION IN KRIEGSMAN’S CRITICISM

Interpretation is the second of the four critical operations that will be used to

examine Kriegsman's critical writing. Interpretation can be defined as the critical process

of finding out what dances mean, or what they communicate. Interpretation is important

to dance criticism, as Sally Banes notes below:

Interpretation is often difficult in dance, since movements, unlike words, have few combinatory rules that guarantee a clear, unambiguous communication of ideas. Dance is unlike verbal language, for it usually creates meaning only vaguely. When it becomes more specific, it tends to move into the realm of pantomime or sign language, or even to introduce verbal language. Therefore the hermeneutic task the critic fulfills is an important one.1

Interpretation is valuable in dance criticism to help the readership, which may be

unfamiliar with dance, to understand what the artist is trying to communicate. Like

description, interpretation exists on an intrinsic to extrinsic continuum, using Carol

McKay's model listed in Figure 1. A critic can interpret the meaning behind a

choreographic phrase or movement of a specific performance, or, more extrinsically, can

interpret the piece in the context of the work of the choreographer. More extreme

extrinsic interpretation occurs when a critic brings the work completely out of the context

of the specific piece to place it in a social, political or historical context, interpreting the

1 Sally Banes, Writing Dancing in the Age o f Postmodernism (Hanover: University of New England Press, 1994), 28.

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work in relation to the larger culture surrounding it. Alan M. Kriegsman feels that one of

the primary purposes for criticism should be to help the reader make connections.

Consequently, his interpretation often connects the choreography he reviews to the bigger

picture of what the artist has done in the past, or what is being done in the field of dance

in general.

Interpretation in Kriegsman's writing is often interspersed with other critical

functions, and is rarely written as straight or "pure" interpretation. Kriegsman frequently

writes passages that blend interpretation with description, as he does when writing about

a program presented by the New York City Ballet:

To go from "Swan Lake" to "Agon" is to leap from a bygone world of myth and rapture, however modernized, to the cerebral gymnastics of the electronic age. "Agon" is classic in its austere economy o f means, in its cool surfaces and surgical clarity of form; it is contemporary, even futuristic, in its calculated eccentricities of shape and rhythm, its spaced- out textures and dry wit. Balanchine's choreography proceeds like a mathematical demonstration, moving step by chiseled step in an inexorable procession. Small units recombine in fractal layers to form ever more intricate wholes; at the apex is the absurdly quirky, atomic circus act that is the work's single piercing male-female duet....2

Kriegsman's passage, as a whole, describes the structure of Balanchine's work "Agon,"

and would be categorized as a primarily descriptive passage, but also contains

interpretation. Kriegsman weaves in interpretive elements throughout to help the reader

understand the construction of the piece; he first contrasts "Agon" with another piece on

the program, "Swan Lake," to highlight for the reader how radically different these two

ballets are. He then interprets the piece for the reader, explaining how the ballet is both

classical and contemporary at the same time. Kriegsman doesn't physically describe the

2 Alan Kriegsman, "NYCB, the No. 1 and Only," Washington Post, 16 October 1987, D I.

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work; he uses poetic description laced with interpretation, assigning "dry wit" to a piece

that is "futuristic," "mathematical" and "atomic."3 The reader walks away from this

passage not only with a sense of the atmosphere of the piece, but also with an

appreciation for its complex construction.

Kriegsman's use of interpretation in the passage above falls somewhere in the

middle of McKay's continuum of intrinsic and extrinsic criticism (see Figure 1).

Kriegsman does not limit his comments to the specific performance at hand, but

interprets the work in the context of the choreographer's oeuvre. The work is seen as an

entity within Balanchine's body of work. In this passage the general construction of the

piece is more interesting to Kriegsman than the nature of the specific performance he

attended.

In another example, Kriegsman focuses in an intrinsic manner on the dancing of

Suzanne Farrell in a specific performance of Balanchine's Jewels:

"Diamonds," the finale to the last four movements of Tchaikovsky's Third Symphony started poorly with a flaccid and imprecise introductory section from the corps. But it went on to reach the evening's summit in the achingly romantic pas de deux danced by Farrell and Martins. There's an oddly secretive and involuted quality about Farrell that Balanchine's choreography shrewdly exploits here. As Martins pursues, she retreats, repeatedly drawing herself up and folding inwards. It's a marvelous foil for her gradual emergence into more and more prolonged extensions and lifts, as the music broadens to its passionate fulfillment.4

In the intrinsic evaluative comments at the beginning of the paragraph, Kriegsman

comments specifically on the performance of the work he attended, honing in his

commentary on the dancing of the corps. Kriegsman's interpretive comments relate to

3 Ibid. 4 Alan Kriegsman, "Sparkling 'Jewels',” Washington Post, 27 March 1975, C l.

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Farrell's dancing in the specific performance he attended, but then broaden in scope, with

observations about the choreography George Balanchine created for the piece. Although

Balanchine was inspired by Suzanne Farrell when he created the segment "Diamonds,"

the choreography is not specific to the performance at hand. Kriegsman’s interpretation

of Balanchine’s choreography is therefore somewhat more extrinsic.

Interpretation, perhaps more so than description and evaluation, is by nature more

extrinsic on McKay's continuum. Kriegsman's interpretation tends toward the extrinsic,

even when he focuses his writing intrinsically on a specific work by a choreographer. In

a later article, again on Balanchine's piece "Jewels," Kriegsman writes:

It was the late George Balanchine, who created the three-part, evening- length dance called "Jewels" in 1967, who said of it: "The ballet had nothing to do with jewels. The dancers are just dressed like jewels." He was right, of course. But not altogether. The ballet had nothing to do with the precious stones. ..nor with implications of vast wealth or material glitter. But metaphorically, it was another story. "Jewels" has no story line and no characters; it's a so-called "pure dance," an abstraction. But what is it abstracted from, if not the poetic resonances of the jewel concept-- a spare, crystalline, radiant essence, elegance and transparency of form, heart-quickening beauty and inestimable value? .. .Balanchine paid homage to the major strands of his own dance upbringing in the movements of "Jewels"--to the lyric effulgence of the French in "Emeralds," set to the music of Gabriel Faure; to the athletic vigor, syncopation and wit of Americans in "Rubies," to music by Stravinsky; and to the imperial splendor of the 19th century Russians and their choreographic laureate Marius Petipa in "Diamonds," to music from Tchaikovsky's Third Symphony.5

Kriegsman's interpretation appears to be intrinsically narrow, focusing on one Balanchine

piece, but brings in everything from the choreographer's own comments on the piece to a

discussion of the abstract title, and educates the reader in an extrinsic manner about

5 Alan Kriegsman, "Miami's Crowning 'Jewels',’’ Washington Post, I May 1975, D7.

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influences behind Balanchine's work and his development as an artist.

Writing about the Bill T. Jones' piece The Last Supper at Uncle Tom's Cabin/The

Promised Land, Kriegsman provides an interpretation that focuses on a specific scene

from the individual work:

The celebrated nude scene at the work's end is actually crucial to this concluding epiphany. In it, the entire cast, including the professional troupe and guests, gradually divests itself of all attire, underscoring the truism that we're all naked under our clothing. It's a richly choreographed, apocalyptic jamboree that reaffirms, after all, the bitterness and skepticism that precedes it, the possibility of communion among peoples and the hope of greater brotherhood. Two things are amazing about it. One is the subtle, ingenious shifting of positions among the final array of performers, creating an uncanny illusion (with much help from Robert Wierzel's nuanced lighting) of fluid undulation, as if this fleshy battalion were being seen through a wall of water. The other is the sudden sense of human bodies as the ultimate costume, each one tailored to its wearer with an impeccable sense of individual style and flair, betraying the genius of the greatest of all designers.6

The passage includes poetic description intent on capturing the impression of the final

scene, but is primarily interpretive. Kriegsman, more intrinsically than usual, focuses on

a crucial moment in the piece, offering up meaning for the audience in the disrobing of

the dancers and guest performers.

The context of Kriegsman's interpretation can be narrow or intrinsic, focusing on

the performance of a dancer or the meaning of a specific scene or work, but can also

broaden into commentary on the whole evening's choreography, or on the work of the

choreographer as a whole. Most extrinsically, Kriegsman writes about the aesthetics of

an artist, or the social or historical context of their work. When writing about Mark

6 Alan Kriegsman, '"Supper*: Feast of the Spirit," Washington Post, 23 March 1991, D l.

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Morris in 1987, Kriegsman begins to examine his aesthetic influences in the following

passage:

There's this almost paradoxical mixture, as in most of Morris, of the traditional and the weird. The flagrant androgyny o f it all, the subversive humor and the drastically stylized ornamentation of the movement, expressing itself in ornate curvilinear filigree—all these suggest that Morris may represent not a classical, but a mannerist phase. Maybe he's the possibly decadent end of something, rather than a new beginning?7

Kriegsman begins to muse on how to categorize Morris' work aesthetically, groping for

an understanding of how his work stylistically compares to what is out there in the dance

world. In a review written in 1995 of Morris' work "L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il

Moderato," Kriegsman's interpretation of Morris' aesthetics has matured:

This was not Morris the notorious postmodern rebel, but rather the Morris who honors the historic traditions of modem dance, especially in its humanistic aspects in the work of Isadora Duncan, Doris Humphrey and Paul Taylor. Morris both appropriates and extends this tradition, with an imaginative breadth rare in any art form.8

In the passage above Kriegsman further develops his understanding of Mark Morris'

work as a whole, placing it within the humanistic traditions of some of the great modem

dance pioneers.

Even more extrinsically, Kriegsman's interpretation broadens beyond the

aesthetics of the artist to place the artist within a social or historical context. When

writing about artist Bill T. Jones, Kriegsman makes a brief interpretive comment about

meaning: "The theme of'Still/Here' is nothing less than the human ability to seize life in

the face of death."9 To elaborate on the interpretation of the piece in the review,

7 Alan Kriegsman, "Mark Morris' Masterly Steps," Washington Post, 16 May 1987, G9. 8 Alan Kriegsman, "'L'Allegro,' Superlatives in Motion," Washington Post, 14 July 1995, D3. 9 Alan Kriegsman, "Bill T. Jones, Living for His Next Dance," Washington Post, 13 November 1994, G6.

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Kriegsman uses the artist's own words from a prepared statement Jones wrote for

potential sponsors and presenters, which Kriegsman feels more eloquently states what the

piece and Jones' work is about:

Loss is a friend that all of humanity gets to know well. Whether the relationship is subtle, like the loss of youth, or devastating like the death of a friend, a loved one, or philosophical like the loss of innocence or love—the experience takes one's breath away, sends the heart into a panic, the soul to reeling. But there's another kind of loss, perhaps epidemic to this technological age more so than any other: the loss of self. What does it mean to be told that your breast being cut off wasn't enough, the cancer has spread, you're going to die? What does it mean to know that a virus that causes AIDS is in your blood? I know.10

Kriegsman takes the back seat in his own review, letting the artist's own words speak for

his work, giving the reader interpretation from the horse's mouth, so to speak. Kriegsman

uses quotes from the choreographer whenever possible. Throughout the course of his

career, Kriegsman interviews many of the artists he writes about, and the quotes from

these interviews play prominently within his writing. In some instances, Kriegsman's

own writing functions only to weave the choreographer's quotes together. By doing this,

it is possible to see through Kriegsman the reviewer to the artist; in this case to the artist

Bill T. Jones and his social commentary about terminal illness and AIDS.

Kriegsman widens the context of his interpretation again when writing about

Martha Graham:

If Martha Graham had had no feet, Picasso would have had to look for his laurels her dance theater is a theater of images—gaunt, brilliantly conceived, impassioned, unforgettable pictures of the human soul in extremis, at the limits of anguish, endurance or joy.11

10 Ibid. 11 Alan Kriegsman, "A Theater of Images," Washington Post, 5 March 1976, BI.

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In this passage Kriegsman takes Martha Graham's aesthetic concerns and makes

connections with the broader context of the world of art in general, not limiting Graham's

importance to the world of dance. At the same time, Kriegsman's comment is evaluative;

his statement places Graham on par with the artist Picasso. In another review he repeats

his assertion by saying "as an artist in the larger sense, Graham redefined not only her

own medium, but by contagion, influence and even inimical reaction, virtually all other

arts as well."12 Earlier in the chapter, an example was given as to how Kriegsman

interprets the artistic concerns of Mark Morris' work. Here we see him broaden his

aesthetic interpretation further, educating the reader on the influence of Graham's artistic

statement beyond the confines of the dance world.

Historical and social interpretation both place the work of art in a greater context,

combining Sally Banes' two categories of interpretation and contextualization. Again

writing about Martha Graham, Kriegsman provides an example of historical

interpretation:

She began as a rebel, an upstart, and a distinct thorn in the side of the dance establishment. It's not easy to realize any longer, particularly for those of us who didn't live through it, the kind of rancor and bitterness generated by Graham's work in the early days. To a world acclimated to the zephyrs of a Pavlova and the opulence of a Ballet Russe, or even the exoticisms of a St. Denis or the plastic idealism of Isadora, Graham’s pugnaciously austere, wracking, solemn dances must have been a very tough nut to crack indeed.13

Kriegsman provides interpretive conjecture of what it must have been like for Graham to

create her early dances. The passage is contextual, providing the reader with the

12 Alan Kriegsman, "The Timeless Martha Graham; With Her Choreography, Defining a Century of Modem Dance," Washington Post, 2 April 1991, El. 13 Alan Kriegsman, "The Earth Mother of Dance," Washington Post, 14 November 1976, K17.

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necessary historical references, and is also interpretive.

While the bulk of Kriegsman's criticism focuses on reviewing the work of artists

he has or will view, he peppers his articles with interpretive musings about the field of

dance in general. At the end of the year or end of the decade, his musings take the form

of retrospectives that look at trends in the art form, commenting on what has taken place

and where he sees the field of dance moving in the future. In a retrospective for 1984,

Kriegsman offers this interpretation:

There's been one rather alarming tendency, already visible last year, but perhaps dismissible then as a temporary drift. Both money and viable performing space for dance appear to be diminishing. We've witnessed— mainly during the '70's—the dance explosion. Unless the future takes a dramatic turn for the better, we may be on the brink of a dance implosion.14

At the end of his career as dance critic for the Washington Post, Kriegsman wrote a

retrospective piece looking back at three decades of dance, interpreting themes and

trends, including:

The emergence of formerly termed "marginal" dance genres from our city streets...the culturally defined dance axis in this country (and elsewhere) has been turned topsy-turvy by population shifts and the transformation of socially approved "norms." ...The increasingly blurred borders between "classical" and "modem" dance. ...The burgeoning importance of cyberspace as a channel of cultural interchange and dispersion.15

In pieces like this one Kriegsman’s interpretation is off McKay's continuum; he looks at

the field as a whole, not focusing on a specific artist or performance.

As mentioned earlier, Kriegsman's goal when writing interpretation is to help his

14 Alan Kriegsman, "Dance," Washington Post, 30 December 1984, K l. 15 Alan Kriegsman, "Last Dance: A Year...and a Career," Washington Post, 31 December 1995, Gl.

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readers gain an understanding about the work they are viewing, or the choreographer

creating the work. His interpretation comes from his broad knowledge of the field, as

well as his long exposure to the artists he writes about. Kriegsman laces his

interpretation with description, evaluation, and contextual information. He weaves the

elements of criticism together to achieve his primary objective of educating the reader

with his review. To achieve these ends, he employs both intrinsic and extrinsic criticism,

sometimes helping the reader to understand an aspect of the specific performance at hand,

while at other times interpreting the work within the larger context of the choreographer's

oeuvre, or in a social or historical light. His educational goal for his criticism causes him

to place more emphasis on interpretation than description, which sets him apart from

some of his contemporaries covering dance in the same period.

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THE USE OF EVALUATION IN KRIEGSMAN'S CRITICISM

Evaluation, a third critical operation discussed in relation to Kriegsman's

criticism, is the process by which the critic forms an opinion about a work, or makes a

value judgement. Sally Banes states that "evaluation pure and simple is the function

often forced on the daily critic. This is criticism at its crudest-the critic as consumer

guide."1 Critics are often required by the publication they write for to pass judgement on

the works they view.

As with the critical operations of description and interpretation, evaluation can be

intrinsic, focusing on the performance at hand, or can broaden to extrinsic commentary

about the work of the artist as a whole and how they contribute to the field. Kriegsman's

evaluation is both intrinsic and extrinsic. As the Pulitzer Prize-winning dance critic for

the prominent Washington Post, Kriegsman writes with the idea of a broad audience in

mind, often leaning toward the extrinsic. While most of his articles include evaluative

commentary, he writes with a certain sympathy toward the artist he reviews. By his own

admission, he is "tilted toward the artist"; he states "I feel sympathy and empathy and

appreciation for the artists...I have enormous respect for the very least effort in the arts...

artists put themselves on the line."2 In this respect, Kriegsman is similar to other dance

1 Sally Banes, Writing Dancing in the Age ofPostmodernism (Hanover: University of New England Press, 1994), 25. 2 Alan Kriegsman, interview by author, tape recording, Chevy Chase, Md., 7 September 1999.

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critics writing at roughly the same time. Deborah Jowitt, dance critic for the Village

Voice, shares Kriegsman's empathy for the artist. A dancer herself, Jowitt states "it may

be my background, it may be my behavior too, that encourages me to try to consider a

work on its own terms, rather than to refer to an absolute scale of values... "3 Diana

Theodores writes that Jowitt's criticism "resists" evaluative writing.4 Kriegsman, like

Jowitt, seems to resist writing evaluative statements at times, but he includes them in

almost every review. While he feels compelled to evaluate, possibly for the sake of his

readers, he shares Jowitt's respect for the effort of the artist.

Like his contemporary Arlene Croce, former dance critic for the New Yorker,

Kriegsman's enthusiasm for the field of dance can be seen through his evaluative

statements. Diana Theodores writes that "Croce, like Denby, lets her love show and in

the process arouses our excitement to a level that hovers around live performance pitch.”3

Kriegsman lets his love and appreciation show with complimentary statements about the

artist he is reviewing or the work he sees. When truly impressed with an artist's work,

Kriegsman lets the superlatives fly, and can't seem to give enough praise. Grandiose

statements are especially prominent in his extrinsic evaluation, when he compares the

work reviewed to that of other artists in the field.

Examples of Kriegsman's intrinsic evaluation show how he critiques the specific

performance at hand. When writing about the Martha Graham Dance Company,

Kriegsman comments on the performance of an individual dancer in Graham's "Diversion

3 Diana Theodores, First We Take Manhattan: Four American Women and the New York School of Dance Criticism {Amsterdam: Harwood Academic Publishers, 1996), 137. 4 Ibid., 138. 5 Ibid., 116.

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of Angels," saying "The stunning performance was peaked by the dancing of

Awakawa [sic], matchless in her purity of line and rhythm. Her sustained, ecstatic

extension were little short of miraculous."6 His evaluation of Asakawa is unabashedly

glowing; Kriegsman doesn't hold back his enthusiasm for her performance. Again

writing about Graham in an intrinsic manner, Kriegsman covers the performance of

RudolfNureyev:

Nureyev looks more comfortable with the Graham movement idiom in "The Scarlet Letter" than he did in the earlier "Lucifer," last June. Still, alongside other members of the Graham troupe, it's clear he's an outsider, stylistically speaking-the rhythms, shapes, and energies of Graham technique remain foreign to his nature. What saves his performance in this new work is his profound dramatic commitment to the role, as well as his ever-magnetic stage presence.7

Kriegsman clearly feels the need to point out that Nureyev, a classically trained dancer, is

not entirely comfortable with the modem dance technique established by Graham. His

evaluation is tempered, however, with positive commentary about Nureyev's

improvement in the idiom and his commitment to his role, illustrating Kriegsman's

sympathy with the artist and his appreciation for his efforts. At times, Kriegsman's

sympathy toward the artist makes him seem almost reluctant to evaluate. When covering

the first performance of the Graham company at the Kennedy Center for the Performing

Arts, Kriegsman writes:

In any case, honesty compels one to record that last night's performance was more a symbolic than an artistic triumph, for the most part. And that Graham herself, the Madame Charisma of American dance in all her compelling majesty, outshone her company without dancing a step.8

6 Alan Kriegsman, "Creative Testament," Washington Post, 12 April 1975, C4. 7 Alan Kriegsman, "A Hefty Grant and a Haunting Premiere for the Nation's Modem Dance," Washington Post, 24 December 1975, B l. 8 Alan Kriegsman, "A Triumph for Graham," Washington Post, 16 November 1976, C l 1.

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Kriegsman's seems to resist placing an evaluative judgement on an occasion so

significant to the Graham company, but feels compelled to do so for the sake of honesty

to his readers. The passage above, while intrinsically commenting about the performance

seen, also comments more extrinsically on the persona of Graham in general.

Kriegsman's intrinsic evaluation also takes into account the effectiveness of other

aspects of the performance. At times he comments on the lighting, music, set, or

costumes of the piece he is covering, as seen below in his review of Balanchine's

"Firebird" in a performance by the New York City Ballet:

Yes, even Mr. B, whom one might think incapable of making bad ballets, has come up with an occasional clinker, and "Firebird" is one of them. It is easy to find reasons why "Firebird" has persisted so long in the repertoire. The score was the first Stravinsky ever composed specifically for dance... .None of this, however, mitigates the tedium of the current revision, concocted by Balanchine and Robbins in 1970....I'm not sure Chagall's designs, for all their fragrant fancy, were ever right for "Firebird." They're too tame and benevolent, they lack any sense of menace or dark, magical power. And some of the costumes are downright ridiculous. Kastchel resembles a Disney beetle and his minions look more like party favors than monsters. The Firebird's costume provides the ballet's one note of excitement—will the ballerina trip over the "tail" or won't she. Finally, the choreography itself is utterly bland and wanting in profile. The current revision has one redeeming virtue. It is shorter than its predecessors.9

While Kriegsman begins with a statement that acts as a qualifier or disclaimer, telling his

readers that most of Mr. B's ballets are good ones, he wastes no time enumerating the

reasons that this particular ballet is unsuccessful. The passage above illustrates how

Kriegsman handles a "negative" evaluation in his review. While having little positive to

say about the piece (which rarely occurs), his comments are presented humorously in a

9 Alan Kriegsman, "All-Stravinsky Ballet Program: Two Achievements, One Turkey," Washington Post, 28 March 1975, B9.

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way that makes the reader want to see the ballet even if it is a "clinker." Somewhat more

extrinsically, Kriegsman's evaluation moves from the specific performance at hand to

include evaluation of the piece in the context of the choreographer's work as a whole.

In contrast to the "negative" review above, Kriegsman here covers the work

"Killer-of-Enemies: The Divine Hero" by Hawkins, looking again at the elements of the

performance at hand, while commenting on the work in general:

At 82, what Hawkins has given us is a work for children only in the most extended sense. It is in fact a piercingly beautiful 50-minute dance parable based on Navajo and Apache myths, and it belongs among Hawkins's most sublime and affecting creations. In essence it depicts a life cycle from cradle to grave and beyond, and at its crux lies the struggle of its Everyman-hero...to slay the internal monsters— of fear, doubt and despair-that conspire to deny each of us the fulfillment of our promise. Given its source and Hawkins's proclivities, the monsters are herein embodied as creatures of nature-monstrous giants, birds and fish—realized in the costumes and ingenious masks of Ralph Lee that are in themselves extraordinary manifestations of art.... Also of inestimable help to the work's thoroughly unified concept are the original music by Alan Hovhaness, vividly performed by the Hawkins Theatre Orchestra under David Briskin's direction; Ralph Dorazio's spare, apt set pieces; and the lighting by Robert Engstrom....10

Again Kriegsman does not hold back his praise of the "sublime" work. He considers the

set, costumes, masks, music and lighting again, but this time he emphasizes how they all

combine to create a unified concept. Kriegsman's evaluative comments are mixed in with

interpretation on the meaning of the work, as well as with contextual background

information.

Kriegsman's evaluation of a performance or piece is often placed in the initial

paragraph of a review. Kriegsman emphasizes "a strong lead that induces the reader to

10 Alan Kriegsman, "Hawkins’ Divine Touch," Washington Post, 13 April 1991, D3.

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stay with you... you use suspense or an outrageous statement to create intrigue."11

Within the opener he frequently encapsulates his opinion about the work while grabbing

the reader's attention, as he does in this review of a performance by Bill T. Jones:

Just when you're being overtaken by one o f those periodic bouts of despair, thinking you may never see anything original, disturbing and deep in contemporary dance ever again, along comes someone like Bill T. Jones, with his hour-long, world-premiere solo "Sisyphus" at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater last night, to remind you that art always has unforeseeable ways of replenishing itself.12

Kriegsman is clearly making a positive evaluation of the piece, but has not elaborated on

the specifics. The lead entices the reader to find out more about what makes this piece

different from others dance works. Again catching the reader's attention, Kriegsman

evaluates work by Mark Morris:

Coming off an evening of choreography by Mark Morris such as the one at the Kennedy Center's Terrace Theater Thursday night, you get this impulse to hold your breath. "Wait a minute," you're saying to yourself, "we all thought the age of giants was over for modem dance. The times that bred Graham, Cunningham, Taylor-they’re gone. This can't really be happening." You're itching to follow through, throw caution windward and hail Morris as a postmodern messiah, come to restore faith in the fabled dynasty of American dance creativity. A contrary impulse, however, rooted in critical reserve and skepticism, fights back. "Now hold on," it says. "Morris is 30 years old. His company only goes back to 1980. Sure he's gifted, brilliant, exceptional even. But let's not go off the deep end here." Nevertheless, in the face of such prudence. ..You see a work like "Gloria," the finale of the Terrace program, and you know from the gut it's the real thing. A work of choreographic genius. Thrilling, original, profound, superb in conception and structure. Whole careers have been made on far less than this single opus.13

11 Kriegsman, interview by author. While many newspapers make having an interesting "opener" an editorial policy, Kriegsman's do more than catch the reader’s interest; they illustrate his opinion and enthusiasm. Daily newspapers may also cut the last paragraph of an article to save space, providing an extra incentive for an interesting and informational opener. 12 Alan Kriegsman, "Bill T. Jones," Washington Post, I October 1980, B2. 13 Alan Kriegsman, "Mark Morris' Masterly Steps," Washington Post, 16 May 1987, G9.

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By musing on his own excitement about Morris, Kriegsman creates an interesting opener

to his article that shares his thoughts with the reader. Kriegsman cleverly introduces

Morris the artist, includes background contextual information on modem dance, and

gives his evaluation of Morris’ work. The opener draws the reader in; by the time his

self-debate is finished, so is a third of the article.

In the following opening paragraph, Kriegsman comments in a more extrinsic

way on the nature of the New York City Ballet:

The New York City Ballet returned to the Kennedy Center Opera House last night after a season's absence for the start of a two-week engagement. In a way, that says it all. While they're gone from us, we think we know how fervently we crave their presence. The truth is, though, that imagination isn't equal to the job of conjuring up this degree of excellence. We don't really know how much we miss them till they're back, and the living reality hits us once again in the breadbasket. Let's face it, this company is so good it hurts.14

In this lead paragraph, Kriegsman demonstrates his characteristic use of formal and

informal language, creating an interesting blend that signals he is an educated and

informed writer, while making the piece feel conversational and friendly in tone. He

writes in a way that "is not simpleminded or simplified"; his writing is broad and

colloquial enough to reach a wide audience, but informative enough to please an educated

readership.15

The passage above also demonstrates Kriegsman's excitement for the troupe; his

enthusiasm for the dance and for the NYCB seems virtually to ooze out of the passage.

Like Croce, Kriegsman creates a buzz that "hovers around live performance pitch."16 His

14 Alan Kriegsman, "The All Conquering NYCB; Triumphant Return of a Noble Troupe," Washington Post, 26 September 1985, D l. 15 Kriegsman, interview by author. 16 Theodores, First We Take Manhattan, 116.

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excitement extends to extrinsic commentary about the choreographers he covers. Mixing

evaluation with contextualization, Kriegsman offers extreme praise of those artists that

move him:

It's been eight years since the Martha Graham Dance Company last appeared in Washington....In the intervening time, she has choreographed nine new works....These facts are their own commentary, if any were needed, on Graham's uniqueness. Who else, in what other art form, has had a career of more than six decades that continues to this very day undaunted in its creative outpouring? Graham's unrivaled stature as an American creative artist of our century, however, was unchallengeable long before this. Not only has she forged the era's most revolutionary and broadly disseminated concept of dancing, building for us in the process a repertory of astonishing breadth and vision, but she has also been the century's single most pervasive influence in the international arts of dance and theater.

Contextual background information on Graham's career substantiates Kriegsman's

positive evaluation of her importance to the field of dance and her uniqueness as an artist

in the broader sense. His evaluation could hardly reach greater heights; Kriegsman

singles Graham out as the "single most pervasive influence" involved in dance and

theater internationally.18 Kriegsman’s appreciation for Graham's genius doesn't keep him

from making critical commentary on her work, however. He admits that he finds her

work tedious at times:

Yet everything that preceded this sovereign appearance had the double edge of paradox. In renewed contact with Graham's choreography after several years hiatus, one frequently sensed those powerful, strange, brilliant and disturbing elements that make it manifestly a work of genius. But genius can engender its own kind of tedium, and through much of the evening the same work seemed leaden, immobile and uninvolving. How much of this response may be ascribed to contradictions inherent in Graham's art, and how much to the personal sensibilities of an observer—

17 Alan Kriegsman, "Martha Graham and her Magical Muse; the Choreographer's Creative Wellspring," Washington Post, March 26 1989, G l. 18 Ibid.

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myself—who has never completely fathomed the Graham mystique, remains moot.19

Kriegsman recognizes elements of greatness in Graham's work, but he admits that her

"mystique" has never captured his fancy. To Kriegsman, the work seems rigid or "oddly

static....for a medium that defines itself as an art of movement."20 In this passage

Kriegsman reveals personal taste or bias. While he can appreciate Graham's creativity,

his own aesthetic eye is appeased by choreography that is less statuesque.

In another confessional passage, Kriegsman writes about his personal reaction to

the work of Erick Hawkins:

Hawkins' dances—though we've been watching them, intermittently, across a period of decades-remain strange and challenging for audiences under any conditions. I remember my own slow conversion to Hawkins' style, hard won past an initial period of bewilderment and even anger. Could anyone seriously regard this nothingness as dance, I thought, resentful and perturbed? But if Hawkins gets to you, finally, he burrows deep under the skin. The more you watch, the more the nothingness resolves into a subtle play of extraordinary qualities, a tapestry of images, sounds, colors, and movement that's profoundly haunting.21

Krigsman admits his initial difficulty with Hawkins' style, but demonstrates that his

opinion of the work changed with time and exposure. Kriegsman's understanding of

Hawkins is obtained through the process of thinking about, viewing, and reviewing his

work; his opinion is subject to change, as is his aesthetic eye. Kriegsman illustrates that

his interpretation or evaluation is not fixed or rigid; he grows and changes as a critic, as

can his readers as they repeatedly experience Hawkins' choreography or the work of

19 Alan Kriegsman, "The Graham Vision: Dance as Sculpture; the Tedium of Genius," Washington Post, 25 February 1981, B l. 20 Ibid. 21 Alan Kriegsman, "Haunting Image; Erick Hawkins Company at the Kennedy Center," Washington Post, 28 October 1987, D9.

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other artists.

As mentioned in Chapter 3, the bias of critics is manifest in their writing. Clearly

Kriegsman views dance through his own colored lens, and writes about it from a

vantagepoint that includes personal assumptions about the art form. As evident in the

passages quoted above, Kriegsman is passionate about dance. This sympathy for dance

and the artists that produce it causes him to be more subjective than objective, leading

him to resist negative evaluation in some instances. In his own words he is "not

ultravitrolic"; hot-tempered criticism is not his style.” His enthusiasm for the work he

covers, however, is tempered by his need to honestly present his opinion about pieces or

artists that he feels are unsuccessful. He sees himself as an advocate for the art form of

dance through his educational criticism, but he also sees himself as an experienced

viewer whose opinion matters. His evaluation, both positive and negative, intrinsically

comments about specific performances, and extrinsically generalizes about the work of a

choreographer or their importance to the field.

22 Kriegsman, interview by author.

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THE USE OF CONTEXUALIZATION IN KRIEGSMAN'S CRITICISM

Contextualization, the last of the critical operations utilized to examine

Kriegsman's criticism, provides background information to the reader. A context is

created surrounding an artist or the artist's work, helping the reader understand the

historical and artistic backdrop to the piece reviewed. Context, like interpretation, helps

the reader to obtain a more complete understanding of the work that extends beyond the

immediate experience of attending a performance. Contextualization aids in "unfold[ing]

the work in an extended time and space after the performance," enriching the experience,

even for those who did not attend.1

Context, like the other three critical operations discussed earlier, can be seen on

an intrinsic to extrinsic continuum. A critic may choose to give contextual background

about the specific performance at hand, or may broaden the context to include

commentary about the choreographer's work in general, their artistic concerns, or even

the social and historical forces at play behind their work. Kriegsman emphasizes

contextual information in his reviews, especially extrinsic context. His use of context is

consistent with his purpose of educating his readers; the background information helps

his readers to understand a choreographer's work beyond the confines of the performance

1 Sally Banes, Writing Dancing in the Age o f Postmodernism (Hanover: University of New England Press, 1994), 25.

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space. By giving his readers biographical, historical, political or artistic context,

Kriegsman broadens their understanding of the work at hand, placing the piece or artist

within the larger societal picture.

In Chapter 3 the metacritical debate concerning intrinsic and extrinsic criticism

was discussed in relation to dance criticism. Julie Van Camp, in her article "Anti-

Geneticism and Critical Practice in Dance," cautions critics about allowing background

contextual information to color or influence the evaluative statements made in a review.

When writing about a performance at hand, Van Camp feels a critic should not allow

factors outside of the actual performance to influence their review or evaluation of the

work. Van Camp makes the important argument that a performance should be judged on

its merits alone, not on the external or contextual factors that might surround it.

Kriegsman, in his review of the Martha Graham Dance Company, includes

external contextual factors in his review. He writes:

...the circumstances were indeed far from ideal. To begin with, some of the leading older dancers, such as Ross Parkes, who were still appearing with the troupe last year and lending the performances the special authority of experience, are no longer on the company roster. Others were absent temporarily, including the exquisite Takako Asakawa, unrivaled in the present company for either virtuosity or interpretive depth. ...The repertory, too, was not what one might have hoped. None of the four new works Graham has mounted in the past two seasons has been show here, due to the difficulties of transporting scenery, according to company spokesmen....It is understandable that high costs prohibit live music for Graham's tours. But the sound reproduction at Lisner— execrable in quality and far too low in level most of the time-makes recordings an unacceptable substitute. Finally, there's Lisner itself. Potentially, it's a fine performance center, but in its present state it's a makeshift-between an impossible parking scene, a congested lobby, dismal air circulation and seemingly endless technical snafus, it's hardly a commodious site.2

2 Alan Kriegsman, "Martha Graham Creations at Lisner," Washington Post, 8 March 1976, B4.

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Kriegsman comments on the specific performance of Graham's company at Lisner

Auditorium, giving background contextual information surrounding the performance he

attended. His review is clearly colored by external factors. Kriegsman is disappointed

that some of the older, more experienced dancers are no longer with the troupe. Knowing

that Graham has come out with new works, he is disappointed not to be able to see them.

After commenting on the poor sound quality of Lisner, he even admits that the parking

problem, crammed lobby, and stale air have contributed to the less than ideal

circumstances of the performance.

These issues clearly affect anyone's experience of attending a performance, but it

is debatable if they should contribute to a critic's review. Julie Van Camp would argue

that writing about external production factors such as these creates irresponsible

criticism. Other critics might defend Kriegsman's critical commentary above. Having

seen Graham's work performed by experienced dancers, one might say that it is his duty

to inform the public that the current company doesn't quite measure up to the old

standard. Is it reasonable that he would like to see Graham's new works in Washington?

Should audiences be warned of the drawbacks of Lisner Auditorium? Maybe Kriegsman,

by bringing some of these problems to the pubic, hopes to put a little pressure on for

improvement. Commenting more extrinsically, Kriegsman connects the work "Freedom

of Information" by the Bill T. Jones & Amie Zane Company to earlier works in their

oeuvre:

Their earlier, often autobiographically tinged work had a feisty, confrontational edge of social commentary about it. The trait remains, but it's been subsumed under an increasing concern with more purely visual and formal elements--a heady, postmodern mixture. The pair's

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choreographic idiom, reinforced in "Freedom of Information" by creative input from the dancers, draws on everything from ballet, modem and jazz dance to spectacular acrobatics.3

Carol McKay, defining her intrinsic to extrinsic categories for contextual writing, places

writing about a work in the context of the company's oeuvre as a #3 (#1 being most

intrinsic, #7 being most extrinsic— see Figure I). In the example above, Kriegsman

combines at least two of McKay's categories; he also connects the work to the aesthetic

concerns of Jones and Zane, and hints at their historical development as artists (#6 and #7

of McKay's categories).

Often Kriegsman's contextual information, like the passage above, is difficult to

compartmentalize into one of McKay's categories. His criticism frequently blends

aesthetic, social, and historical information, as he does in the following passage on

Graham:

"Phaedra," the Martha Graham work seen in its new revival at Wolf Trap Thursday night, may be the only dance piece to have the distinction of having been accused of obscenity by two United States congressmen. In 1963, the year after the premiere, "Phaedra" became the fulcrum of a controversy about government touring funds for Graham's company, as a result of the legislators' charges. Much to its credit, the State Department backed Graham, and Reps. Peter Freylinghuysen and Edna Kelley lost their bid for suppression. At this remove, with so much sexual liberationism behind us, it may be hard to see what the ruckus was about...."Phaedra" is about eroticism run amok. It's an abstraction, to be sure, but it's also quite anatomically explicit in its theme...... "Phaedra" belongs to Graham's Greek mythological cycle. The goddess Aphrodite, infuriated by Hippolytus' indifference to her, revenges herself by instilling in Phaedra a blinding passion for the young man, who happens to be her stepson. When Hippolytus rebuffs her, Phaedra resolves to kill herself, but first she tells her husband Theseus that Hippolytus, his son, had ravished her. Theseus kills Hippolytus in a mad rage before learning the truth.4

3 Alan Kriegsman, "Dancing With Freedom," Washington Post, 22 October 1984, CIO. 4 Alan Kriegsman, "Martha Graham's 'Phaedra' at Wolf Trap," Washington Post, 25 June 1977, B6.

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The contextual information provides increased understanding about the history of the

piece, helping the reader see how Graham's work was interpreted by different eyes

coming from a more conservative period in American society. Mixed with interpretation

about what Kriegsman thinks the piece means, the passage provides information orienting

the reader on the artistic, social, and historical context of the work.

Social and historical context reside on the extrinsic extreme of the seven

categories listed by McKay. In an interesting passage on the Dance Theatre of Harlem,

Kriegsman provides a historical contextual backdrop mixed with some biographical

information on George Balanchine:

Fittingly enough, just as President Reagan was delivering his State of the Union address, DTH was blazing through George Balanchine's "Stars and Stripes," set to marches by John Philip Sousa as arranged by Hershy Kay. Once asked if this patently abstract ballet had a story, Balanchine replied, "Yes...the United States." Indeed, this incredible halfitime pageant in toe shoes is living proof that a naturalized, patriotic citizen could give his Russian classical tradition an unmistakably American accent.5

In the observation noted above, Kriegsman makes an interesting connection between the

work he is viewing and the concurrent historical moment. The passage interprets the

piece's American flavor while giving enough biographical information about George

Balanchine to aid in the audience's understanding.

Often Kriegsman gives biographical contextual information about the artists he

covers, educating the audience on the forces that help to shape and mold the work of the

choreographer, while also illuminating interesting facts about the artist, helping the

5 Alan Kriegsman, "Flavored with Patriotism; From Harlem, a Rousingly American Program," Washington Post, 5 February 1986, C3.

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audience get to know them better. On Erick Hawkins, Kriegsman writes:

Colorado bom, and a Greek scholar at Harvard, he received his early dance training at Balanchine's classically oriented School of American Ballet, before meeting up with Martha Graham and becoming the first male in the trope of this prophetess of modem dance, as well as her leading partner for a dozen years. When he broke from Graham in the early 50's, he veered, as did other celebrated Graham apostates, in a direction totally opposed to her psychologically driven, angst-ridden esthetics. The consequences were clearly manifest in last night's program. There was, for example, the unstressful, free-flowing movement idiom Hawkins has developed....6

The personal history about Hawkins helps the reader understand the influences behind his

work. The passage orients Hawkins in relation to other key figures in the history of

American dance, and sheds light on the development of his aesthetic, connecting it to the

evening's performance.

In the instances cited above, Kriegsman blends social and historical context to

comment on the work of individual artists. At times, Kriegsman writes with a focus that

is extremely extrinsic, broadening his criticism to comment on the field of dance in

general. Looking back on the 1960s and 1970s in dance, Kriegsman writes:

Remember when there were radicals? The whole scene--with the tear gas, the billy clubs, the obscenities, the confrontations—seems ancient by now, so much so it's become a regular subject for nostalgia. The same goes for the arts in general and dance in particular. Looking around at what's going down at the start of the 80's, it's hard to identify anything that seems to demand the label, "avant-garde," at least as it used to be understood in the '60's and early '70's. At dance events nowadays, there are no carloads of "fuzz" to stop the show or drag off the unruly. There's no scatology. There's nothing that could be remotely construed as politically inflammatory, and little that seems "outrageous" even from a purely esthetic standpoint. Yet, though shock and violence have disappeared both as tactics and response, there remains a kind of dance that is conspicuously "offbeat"....7

6 Alan Kriegsman, "Dancing Visions," Washington Post, 5 December 1980, F10. 7 Alan Kriegsman, "Fascinating Footsteps Beyond the Mainstream," Washington Post, 19 May 1980, M l.

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The passage links "avant-garde" dance to the social and historical context that produced

it. Looking back on the 1960s from the historical perspective of the 1980s, Kriegsman

helps the reader see how society has changed, and how the arts, which come out o f and

comment on society, have changed as well. Generally, Kriegsman's criticism broadens to

this type of extreme extrinsic commentary annually in his pieces written in the end of

December that look back through the year on what he has seen and the trends he has

observed. Due to his long career, he has a few pieces that look back even further, like the

one above, on changes in dance over passing decades.

Contextual information, like interpretation, helps the reader understand the piece

the critic is writing about. Context can be intrinsic, focusing on the specific performance

only, or can be more extrinsic, focusing on a piece in relation to the choreographer's other

work, or on the aesthetic, social, or historical background behind the work. Critics have

debated how much of a role contextual information should play in a review, some feeling

that external factors should not influence a critic's evaluation of a work. Kriegsman,

undoubtedly, would argue for the inclusion of context in reviews.8 His criticism is almost

always informed by intrinsic or extrinsic context, consistent with his educational goal for

his criticism. Context places the work within a larger framework, helping the reader to

make sense of the work and the goals of the artist, extending the understanding of the

work beyond the performance. Context can even helps the reader gain insight in to the

field of dance in general.

s Alan Kriegsman, interview by author, tape recording, Chevy Chase, Md., 7 September 1999. Part of the reason for Kriegsman’s emphasis on including contextual information in the actual review can be attributed to the absence of regular Sunday "wrap up" pieces in the Washington Post, in contrast with the New York Times.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER 9

CONCLUSION

In the eyes of Alan M. Kriegsman, a critic serves one primary function; "simply

to keep the pot boiling.”1 It is the responsibility of the critic to stir up feelings and

thoughts about the arts, to expose the public to the work of artists, and then to help them

gain understanding and appreciation. As shown in this study, Kriegsman's criticism

consistently aims at achieving these ends. He writes as an advocate for the art of dance,

hoping to educate his readers on the artists he reviews.

The study examined Kriegsman's writing on five artists: George Balanchine,

Martha Graham, Erick Hawkins, Bill T. Jones, and Mark Morris. Articles reviewed for

the study included over 900 pieces written by Kriegsman for the Washington Post during

his lengthy career spanning three decades.

Two models or ways of looking at criticism helped to define the study; the first

taken from Sally Banes, who summarizes the operations a critic can perform into four

categories: description, interpretation, evaluation, and contextualization.2 Kriegsman's

use of these four critical operations formed the basis for analysis. Carol McKay's

master's thesis provides a second model for categorizing criticism, one that lists the

intrinsic and extrinsic factors of a performance that may be included in a review

1 Alan Kriegsman, interview by author, tape recording, Chevy Chase, Md., 7 September 1999. 2 Sally Banes, Writing Dancing in the Age o f Postmodernism (Hanover: University of New England Press, 1994), 25.

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(shown in Figure 1). Her model, combined with Banes', provided a useful tool for

examining Kriegsman's criticism. In Chapters 5-8, Kriegsman's use of description,

interpretation, evaluation and contextualization were discussed, as was his use of intrinsic

and extrinsic writing.

To help place Kriegsman's work within the larger context of dance criticism in

general, dialogue between critics, or metacritical debate, was examined concerning dance

criticism. Several metacritical debates surrounding dance criticism were introduced in

Chapter 3, and were then applied to Kriegsman's use of description, interpretation,

evaluation and contextualization in Chapters 5-8, helping illustrate Kriegsman's position

in regard to these issues.

Chapter 5 focused specifically on Kriegsman's use of description. Unlike many of

his contemporaries, Kriegsman does not respond to avant-garde choreography with a

descriptive emphasis. Intent on educating his audience, Kriegman is reluctant to let

description supercede interpretation and contextualization. Kriegsman likes to provide

his reader with his interpretation of the intent of the artist, and when works resist

interpretation, as did some of the work of the postmodems, he gives contextual

background information to the reader about the artist.

While Kriegsman doesn't emphasize description in his work, his reviews contain

descriptive passages that are emotive and poetic. Kriegsman prefers to describe a key

image or moment rather than re-creating the physical nature of the performance with

action-based or kinesthetic language. He looks for "privileged moments" that get at the

essence of the work, and imparts that image to his reader. He uses both intrinsic and

extrinsic description; intrinsically, he describes the specific performance he has seen, and

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extrinsically he describes the work of a choreographer as a whole. Extrinsic description

blurs the line between description, interpretation, and contextualization, and is often a

combination of the three.

Kriegsman's use of interpretation was examined in Chapter 6. Interpretation, as

mentioned above, plays a more prominent role than description in Kriegsman's criticism.

Because of his educational goals for his criticism, Kriegsman consistently proffers

interpretive comments about work he sees. His interpretation can be intrinsic, but leans

toward the extrinsic. When finding meaning in the work of a choreographer, Kriegsman

frequently connects the piece he sees with other work done by the artist, or to social or

political concerns important to the artist in general. At times his interpretation extends

beyond individual artists to conjecture about changing trends in dance; these interpretive

works appear in Kriegsman's end of the year or end of a decade retrospectives.

Interpretation helps Kriegsman to stir up the pot, aiding his readers in thinking about and

understanding the meaning of the works they see.3

Chapter 7 analyzed Kriegsman's use of evaluation. By looking at his personal

commentary and reaction to choreographic works, it was also possible to examine

Kriegsman's critical bias. Kriegsman is clearly passionate about the arts, and often writes

as an advocate for the artists he covers and the art form of dance in general. He has

"enormous respect for the very least of efforts in the arts," knowing that artists put

themselves out on the line when they present their work.4 He categorizes himself as

"much more of an appreciator than a fault-finder," and his criticism reflects this.5 His

3 Kriegsman, interview by author. 4 Ibid. 5 Ibid.

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respect and enthusiasm for dance is evident in his writing, which can be unabashedly

glowing of artists he admires. At times he tempers negative commentary on work he

views, seeming almost reluctant to harshly critique a work. Still, his extensive

experience viewing dance and his need to honestly report his opinion compels him to

proffer evaluative statements when he finds a work less than satisfactory. His negative

comments are often humorous, making the reader feel like seeing the work, even if it is

unsuccessful.

His evaluation ranges from intrinsic to extrinsic. He intrinsically evaluates the

work he is viewing, often focusing on performances of the dancers on the particular night

he has attended. When attending a ballet performance, his evaluative comments

frequently concern the ability of the dancers rather than the work of the choreographer,

because the same choreographic cannon is repeatedly viewed in ballet. Kriegsman sees

the same works by Balanchine so many times that he gravitates toward comparisons

between individual dancers and performances, even commenting on the differing

performances of the same dancer on consecutive evenings. On the extrinsic end of the

continuum, Kriegsman evaluates the body of work of a choreographer, even evaluating

where they stand in the pantheon of dance artists as a whole. His most extrinsic

evaluation goes hand and hand with his interpretations about the field of dance in his end

of the year or decade pieces. These pieces often contain evaluative commentary about

the overall health of the field.

Chapter 8 examined the last of Banes' four categories for criticism—

contexualization. McKay's intrinsic and extrinsic categories for criticism were applied to

Kriegsman's use of contextualizaiton as well, and again, as with interpretation,

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Kriegsman leans toward the extrinsic. At times he gives background contextual

information about the performance at hand, letting his readers know that a principal

dancer has been injured, or that there were technical snafus during the performance. On

the whole, however, Kriegsman's frequent use of the contextual in his reviews promotes

his goal of educating the audience. He includes biographical information about the artist

for his readers, helping them understand the personal history behind the work of art. He

also places the work within a social, historical or political context, helping further define

the goals of the artist while extending the experience of the work beyond the walls of the

theater; he does this for the field of dance as well.

Metacritical debate concerning context was discussed in relation to Kriegsman's

criticism. Julie Van Camp, in an article written for Dance Research Journal, cautions

critics about letting factors external to the performance of a work of art factor in to their

evaluation and commentary about the work.6 Van Camp makes the interesting argument

that a performance should be judged on its merits alone, not on contextual factors that

might surround it. To Van Camp, any intrinsic or extrinsic contextual information, from

the traffic jam outside to the financial troubles of the company or personal life of the

choreographer, should not influence the critique of the work. Kriegsman includes this

type of external information consistently in his reviews. Undoubtedly, with his goal of

increasing awareness about the art of dance and increasing understanding about the artists

and the work they produce, he feels contextual information is necessary.

Kriegsman's criticism achieves his goal of being educational and thought-

6 Julie Van Camp, "Anti-Geneticism and Critical Practice in Dance," Dance Research Journal 13, no. I (Fall 1980): 29-33.

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provoking. He often grabs the readers attention with an interesting and enthusiastic

opening statement, enticing them to read on further. His writes with a mixture of formal

and informal language, sounding informed and educated, and at the same time

conversational and friendly. While explaining technical dance terms in layman's

language, his writing is never simplistic. He achieves the delicate balance of writing for

a wide public, while still appealing to an informed readership with his insightful

commentary. He writes with clarity, simplicity and unity, creating reviews that are fun

and easy to read. Winning a Pulitzer Prize and contributing over three decades of

informative writing on dance, Kriegsman has definitely kept the pot boiling in the field of

dance criticism. Reaching a broad and influential audience with his writing, he has been

an asset to the art world in general, and a powerful force helping to further awareness

about the field of dance.

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INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR CRITIC ALAN KRIEGSMAN

1. Please tell me about your personal background. (Biographical information; where did you grow up, where did you go to school, what you studied, etc.)

2. What is your writing training/background? (If not answered above)

3. Do you have dance training?

4. How did you become interested in criticism? (Influences on your writing, motivational experiences)

5. What is the role of the critic, in your opinion?

6. Is that role different for a dance critic? How does dance criticism differ from other forms of art criticism? (Music criticism)

7. Edwin Denby said (in 1947) that dance critics are saved from a lot of “pedantry and academicism” because dance criticism is less established than other forms of criticism. He is quoted as saying that a dance critic “can invent most of the language and logic of his subject.” Do you agree or disagree with Denby’s statement? Why?

8. What is/was your personal goal as a dance critic? (Do you think of yourself as a reporter, as a historian, as a recordkeeper, as an educator of the public or mediator for another culture/to give context, as an agent who makes or breaks a performance, as an advocate for dance, as someone who is working to create a language to talk about dance, as someone who establishes or maintains standards, as someone who writes for personal satisfaction?

9. How would you describe your critical process? (Research, repeat viewings; do you get an impression and write about the “afterimage”?)

10. Do certain types of dance require different modes of preparation?

11. What do you respond to most in a dance performance? (Structure of choreography, technical skill of the dancers, movement itself, context of piece, i.e. repertory of choreographer or history of piece itself)

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12. What are your “blind spots,” or areas of a dance performance you prefer not to comment on?

13. Do you prefer to write about a certain style of dance?

14. Do you use re-creative description (kinesthetically intuited, action-based and responsive to a choreographer)?

15. Do you write description that is also emotive? Do you try to convey the “felt” experience of the dance? Why or why not?

16. Do you think it is important to tell the narrative or story of the dance? Why or why not?

17. Should criticism be analytical? Pass judgement? Are you analytical in your reviews?

18. How important is aesthetic or poetic analysis? Do you try to recreate the imagery of a performance?

19. How important is a political analysis of a work?

20. How would you describe your style? (Colloquial, formal, objective, subjective)

21. Describe how you generally structure a review. Do you begin with description and move on to analysis, etc.?

22. How much of your structure is indebted to journalistic norms? (Opening line always a kicker)

23. Are there any rhetorical tactics you make frequent use of? (Makes declarations/pronouncements)

24. How do you feel working for the Washington Post has influenced your criticism? Do you have an audience in mind? How do you picture your audience?

25. Have you had to adapt/change your style to accommodate the Post?

26. Are you a classicist?

27. Marcia Siegel questions the benefits of mass popularity for dance, stating that audiences are encouraged to look at dance superficially when it is produced for mass culture. Do you agree? Should an audience know who the “Bachs and Beethovens of dance are?

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28. Some of the New York critics (Siegel and Croce, for example) have been interested in what defines “American” dance. Are you interested in this area?

29. If you were to organize the body of your work thematically, how would you do so?

30. Do you share Arlene Croce’s reaction against “dance totalism,” or the trend she feels is happening in choreography to create movement at the expense of meaning?

31. How did dance evolve and change as an art form during your years of writing about it? Are there any decades in particular you can comment on? (Do you feel your summaries of each decade as it passed were important to your readership and to your goal as a dance critic?)

32. Where do you think dance is headed as we pass into the millenium?

33. What changes have you seen in take place in the field of dance criticism since you began writing? (Maybe focus on the last decade)

34. Where do you think dance criticism is headed? Do you think critics have entered a post-descriptive era?

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. REFERENCES

Primary Sources

Articles

Kriegsman. Alan M.

About Balanchine, George

1974 "Ballet: When East Is West." Washington Post. August 11, L I.

1975a "Ballet." Washington Post. March 3, B11.

1975b "13 New Ballets." Washington Post. March 11, B8.

1975c "Ushering in the New York Ballet." Washington Post. March 23, G6.

1975d "Bravos for A Return, A Premiere." Washington Post. March 26, B1,B3.

1975e "Sparkling ’Jewels'." Washington Post. March 27, Cl, C3.

1975f "All-Stravinsky Ballet Program: Two Achievements, One Turkey." Washington Post. March 28, B9.

1975g "Balanchine's 'Bicentennial' Program, In a Fittingly Ebullient Mood." Washington Post. April 2, B9.

1975h "An 'Enchanting' Evening of Waltzes." Washington Post. April 3, B15.

1975i "Ballet: Cultural Chic To the Music of Ravel." Washington Post. May 5, B l, B6.

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1975j '"Three by Balanchine' On Public Television." Washington Post. May 21, B9.

1975k "Bolshoi, Stuttgart, Panovs, Fonteyn-Nureyev...Culture Shock!" Washington Post. M y 13, H5.

19751 "Balanchine Speaks Out on Life, Ballet's Appeal and Ravel's Music." Washington Post. September 3, C l3.

1975m "Extraordinary Ballet Troupe." Washington Post. September 5, Bl.

1975n "The Imaginative, Intuitive Balanchine." Washington Post. September 6, D5.

1976a "An Unusual Dance Collaboration." Washington Post. February 15, M l, M3.

1976b "Sparkling Contrasts." Washington Post. February 18, Cl.

1976c "New York City Ballet: What It's All About." Washington Post. February 19, G il.

1976d "A Sparkling 'Coppelia'." Washington Post. February 21, E5.

1976e "New York City Ballet: A Vibrant and Kinetic Display." Washington Post. February 23, B7.

1976f "New York Ballet: A Mixed Program." Washington Post. February 27, D ll.

1976g "An Enigmatic 'Chaconne,' An Interesting Anomaly." Washington Post. February 28, C6.

1977a "The New 'Nutcracker': An Artistic Coup." Washington Post. January 2, K5.

1977b "A New Work by the Washington Ballet for Its Spring Concert Series." Washington Post. February 21, C9.

1977c "New York: The Greatest Ballet Show on Earth." Washington Post. February 22, Bl.

1977d "Balanchine's Union Jack': A Classic Ballet as Cheeky Tribute." Washington Post. February 24, DIO.

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1977e "Trio of Balanchine." Washington Post. March 3, B13.

1977f "An Evening of Austere, Passionate Ballet." Washington Post. March 4, B13.

1977g "New York Ballet: A Most Enchanting 'Dream'." Washington Post. March 11, B3.

I977h "From Maurice Bejart, a 'Rite' to Reckon With." Washington Post. April 10, E3.

1977i "A Tale of Two Companies." Washington Post. April 17, N3.

I977j "Monstrous Didacticism." Washington Post. June 12, Dl.

1977k "A Return of Cheek-to-Cheek Chic; Dancing 'Til Dawn With the Return of Cheek-to-Cheek Chic." Washington Post. July 3, K.1.

19771 "The Ivory Curtain; Cracking Ballet's Ivory Curtain; Arthur Mitchell's Dance Troupe Breaks Through Once and For All." Washington Post. July 17, FI.

1977m "The Jofffey Ballet's Ashton Tribute." Washington Post. August 13, BIO.

1977n "An Uneven ABT Mix." Washington Post. December 9, B 12.

1977o "Sparks of Genius: When the Whole Is Greater Than the Parts; A Whole Greater Than the Parts." Washington Post. March 13, Gl.

1977p "A Sensitive Balanchine." Washington Post. December 14, D15.

1978a "The Meaning of'Abstract' in the World of Dance." Washington Post. January 8, H2.

1978b "Saving the Dancing Soul of Broadway; The Dance Machine." Washington Post. February 5, FI.

1978c "Cultural Overdose on TV?; There's Danger in the Current Tidal Wave of Arts Programming." Washington Post. February 19, G4.

1978d "Some Good News For Ballet Junkies." Washington Post. February 23, B6.

1978e "NYC Ballet." Washington Post. February 24, D5.

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1978f "NYC Ballet: Spirit, Joy, Plus Value." Washington Post. February 25, E4.

1978g "Poaching on Our Legacies; From Music to Movies, Recycling Ideas Becomes a Fetish; Crosscurrents." Washington Post. February 26, FI 1.

1978h "NYC Ballet." Washington Post. March 3, D6.

1978i "Balanchine Dances On and On; 'I'm Not a Words Man...'; After 53 Years and 160 Ballets, The Great Choreographer Is Still 'Bravissimo'." Washington Post. March 5, HI.

1978j "'Don Q,' Over Lightly; Don Q and Kitri'; Baryshnikov Unveils His New Romantic Comedy'." Washington Post. March 19, FI.

1978k "'Don Quixote'." Washington Post. March 25, B7.

19781 "High and Dry in The Middle of the Road." Washington Post. April 16, K3.

1978m "The Big Leap; Mikhail Baryshnikov To Join NYC Ballet." Washington Post. April 27, Bl.

1978n "ABT Telecast." Washington Post. May 19, C7.

1978o "The Glory of Being Gorey; Gorey, 'Amphigorey'; A Ballet Groupie Too." Washington Post. June 11, Kl.

1978p "Baryshnikov's Debut; Baryshnikov's New York City Ballet Debut; It's a Dazzler in Saratoga Springs." Washington Post. July 10, Bl.

1978q "Ballet Theatre." Washington Post. December 13, D9.

1979a "Future Peril, Future Promise." Washington Post. January 14, P3.

1979b "Focusing on Baryshnikov." Washington Post. February 18, K3.

1979c "'Entente Cordiale'." Washington Post. February 21, Bl 1.

1979d "Baryshnikov's Parable for the Ballet World." Washington Post. February 22, Cl 4.

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1979e '"Harlequinade1." Washington Post. February 26, Bl 1.

1979f "Best of New York City Ballet." Washington Post. March 2, E5.

1979g "The Memoirs Can Wait; Dancing on the Sunny Side; Master Choreographer Jerome Robbins, Dancing on the Sunny Side." Washington Post. March 4, El.

1979h "Scintillating Dancing That's Adventurously Filmed." Washington Post. March 7, B7.

1979i "Marriage of Modes; NYC Opera's Moliere; NYC Opera's Ineffectual 'Gentilhomme'..." Washington Post. May 2, Bl.

1979j "The Bolshoi's 'Swan Lake'." Washington Post. August 19, L5.

1979k "The Russian Syndrome; From Bolshoi to Baryshnikov, Some Things Never Change; Russia Syndrome." Washington Post. August 19, LI.

19791 "Collision of Moving Bodies; New York City Ballet and Dance Theatre of Harlem--Is Washington Big Enough for Both?; Two Troupes In Town." Washington Post. September 30, HI.

1979m "NYC Ballet." Washington Post. October 5, BIO.

I979n "NYCB's 'Coppelia'." Washington Post. October 8, B6.

1979o "New York City Ballet." Washington Post. October 10, E6.

1979p "Green Thumb for the 'Garden'." Washington Post. October 11, D9.

1979q "NYC Ballet At Kennedy Center." Washington Post. October 13, B4.

1979r "The Conflicting Careers of Dancer Peter Martins; Peter Martins." Washington Post. October 14, HI.

1979s "Baryshnikov Bows Out Early; Baryshnikov Leaves NYCB to Rest Leg." Washington Post. October 16, Cl.

1979t "The Variety of NYCB." Washington Post. October 17, B3.

1979u "NYCB's 'Jewels'." Washington Post. October 19, B3.

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1979v "Spirited, Cohesive Pennsylvania Ballet." Washington Post. December 6, C13.

1979w "Footnotes On the Seventies." Washington Post. December 16, HI.

1979x "Feld's Distillations and Originals." Washington Post. December 28, D3.

1980a "Paul Taylor Takes On Stravinsky’s Challenge." Washington Post. January 13, Ml.

1980b "Paul Taylor's Thrills." Washington Post. January 18, B4.

1980c "NC. Dance Theatre." Washington Post. March 10, C12.

1980d "The Return of ABT; The Return of ABT & Godunov's D.C. Debut; Joy and Disappointment in Godunov's D.C. Debut." Washington Post. April 2, Bl.

1980e "The NYC Ballet; Bringing an American Premiere to Washington." Washington Post. October 5, Ml.

1980f "Odette's Promise; New York City Ballet; NYC Ballet's Newcomer." Washington Post. October 9, Cl.

1980g "Steps of Surprise & Splendor; New York City Ballet; NYC Ballet: Dancing Of the Highest Order." Washington Post. October 11,FI.

1980h "Balanchine On Ballet: 'I Think In Steps'." Washington Post. October 12, L9.

1980i "New York City Ballet." Washington Post. October 13, Bl 1.

1980j "NYC Ballet." Washington Post. October 15, Bl 1.

1980k "Fast Rising & Slow Dancing in the Big City; The NYC Ballet's 'Walpurgisnacht'; New York City Ballet." Washington Post. October 17, Cl.

19801 "NYC Ballet." Washington Post. October 20, D11.

1981a "The Dance Theatre of Harlem: Round 2 of Razor-Edge Rhythm." Washington Post. February 12, F17.

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1981b "Flamboyantly Eliot Feld; Eliot Feld Ballet; The Sleek, Bracing Ballet of a Provocative American Original." Washington Post. February 18, BI.

1981c "Ups and Downs; ABT's Erratic Opener; American Ballet Theatre's Erratic Opener." Washington Post. March 25, Bl.

1981d "WETA's Charming Ravel Opera." Washington Post. May 25, E13.

198 le "Tchaikovsky Festival." Washington Post. June 6, C5.

198 If "Balanchine's Somber Triumph; Tchaikovsky Dance Festival Leaves the Audience Stunned." Washington Post. June 21, FI.

198 Ig "Kitchen-Tested Dance Floor for JFK Center." Washington Post. November 26, C4.

198 lh "Baryshnikov And ABT: On Balance; Ballet: The ABT." Washington Post. December 6, K1.

19811 "ABT's New Heights; Baryshnikov's Zingy 'Variation on America'." Washington Post. December 9, Bl.

1981 j "'Apollo' With Aplomb; The Olympic Pleasures of Balanchine's Dance." Washington Post. December 17, Bl.

1981k "Overnight Stardom Still Happens." Washington Post. December 27, F3.

1982a "DTH's Classics & Contrasts." Washington Post. February 26, D6.

1982b "Celebrating 25 Years and the Power of Dance; Joffrey's Silver Season." Washington Post. February 28, HI.

1982c "The Vivacious Pennsylvania Ballet." Washington Post. May 7, D4.

1982d "Eliot Feld Ballet." Washington Post. May 15, C3.

1982e "Revival And Revelation; The Changing Legacy O f the Dance World." Washington Post. June 27, Dl.

1982f "Balanchine and Stravinsky." Washington Post. October 4, Cl4.

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1982g "The Right Steps; A New Floor, and NYCB Comes Bouncing Back." Washington Post. October 7, Dl.

1982h "N.Y.C. Ballet: Dazzling in D.C." Washington Post. October 14, D9.

1982i "Was the ABT Lockout Necessary; After the Battle, Assessing the Costs." Washington Post. November 14, Kl.

1982j "Dazzling Evening from The Daredevil of Dance." Washington Post. December 2, C6.

1982k "Foothold In the Past; The Innovations of the 1936 'On Your Toes'." Washington Post. December 19, Gl.

1983a "ABT's Return & the Rebirth of Ballet; Balanchine's All-but- Forgotten 'Symphonie Concertante' Is Revived." Washington Post. January 16, G l. Washington Post. January 16, G l.

1983b "ABT, Back to Life; 'Concertante': A Triumphant Reincarnation." Washington Post. January 20, C1.

1983c "Washington Ballet." Washington Post. February 25, D3.

1983d "Multifaceted Dance." Washington Post. March 4, D2.

1983e "NYCB Names Martins, Robbins 'Maters in Chief." Washington Post. March 17, D17.

1983f "Ballet Choreographer Balanchine Dies at 79." Washington Post. May 1, A l.

1983g "The Dance Dilemma; Taking Stock at a Meeting of Moguls." Washington Post. July 17, LI.

1984a "Dance: New Steps And the Death Of a Master Dance." Washington Post. January 1, FI.

1984b "Taking Note." Washington Post. January 1, F8.

1984c "Choreography at Work." Washington Post. February 13, B13.

1984d "After Balanchine; Martins and Robbins, Carrying NYCB's Flame." Washington Post. February 26, Kl.

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1984e "Monument on the Move; The New York City Ballet: Still Fired by Balanchine Excellence."Washington Post. March 1, Dl.

1984f "NYCB: Testament to Genius." Washington Post. March 3, C3.

1984g "Sparkling ’Jewels'." Washington Post. March 9, D2.

1984h "From Breakin' To Ballet; Making a Full Circle In the New York Orbit." Washington Post. May 27, K l.

1984i "You Can Dance to It; Combining the Composer and the Choreographer." Washington Post. July 1, FI.

1984j "In Touch With the Legend; The First Round of Balanchine Literature." Washington Post. November 11, Kl.

1984k "An Ashton Sampler; The Joffrey & a Master's Work." Washington Post. December 2, HI.

19841 "Ballet With Brio; ABT Opens With A Showcase of Talent." Washington Post. December 19, Dl.

1985a "Goh's Genial 'Schubert'; Washington Ballet's Surprising Premiere." Washington Post. February 21, Dl.

1985b "Acting Up: The Theater of Dance; Essay." Washington Post. June 23, HI.

1985c "Art and the Atom; Dance: Movement With a Message." Washington Post. August 4, FI.

1985d "Dance ABT's Rapture in The Rain; Martine van Hamel Scores Triumph in 'Raymonda'." Washington Post. August 27, Cl.

1985e "Confessions of a Ballet Master; NYCB's Jerome Robbins, Building on Balanchine's Legacy." Washington Post. September 22, HI.

1985f "Dance; The All Conquering NYCB; Triumphant Return Of a Noble Troupe." Washington Post. September 26, D l.

I985g "Balanchine's Ballerina; Suzanne Farrell, Angel of the Dance." Washington Post. September 29, Gl.

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1985h "New York City Ballet." Washington Post. September 30,C l.

19851 "Dance; NYCB's 'Midsummer' A Dream." Washington Post. October 3, Dl.

1985j "A Week of 'Dreams'; NYCB Shows Off Its Variety and Depth." Washington Post. October 7, B2.

1986a "Dance; Flavored With Patriotism; From Harlem, a Rousingly American Program." Washington Post. February 5, C3.

1986b "Ballet; ABT's Elusive 'Mollino'; Multi-faceted Work in World Premier." Washington Post. April 11, Cl.

1986c "The Kirov Mystique; After 22 Years, the Legendary Troupe Returns to the U.S." Washington Post. June 1, Gl.

1986d "En Avant-Garde! On the Artistic Front Lines in New York." Washington Post. June 15, Bl.

1986e "Dance of Death; Gelsey Kirkland's Harrowing Story." Washington Post. December 14, FI.

1987a "Alice: Missing Steps in Wonderland." Washington Post. April 1, Dl.

1987b "The Pacific at High Tide; Seattle's Troupe's Stellar D.C. Debut." Washington Post. April 8, Cl.

1987c "Pacific Northwest's Triumphs." Washington Post. April 11, C2.

1987d "Washington's Ballet Bonanza; At the Kennedy Center, a Sudden Glut of Dancers and Choreographers." Washington Post. April 19, Gl.

1987e "The Year of'Sleeping Beauty’; Multiple Versions of the Ballet Classic." Washington Post. June 16, FI.

1987f "ABT, Still Setting the Standard." Washington Post. June 17, Bl.

1987g "Bolshoi! Artistry & Spectacle; Ballet's Colossus Appeals to Soviets and Americans." Washington Post. July 19, FI.

1987h "'Raymonda': Playing to The Crowd." Washington Post. August 1, C3.

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19871 "S.F. Ballet's 'New Sleep' Awakening; At Wolf Trap, A Futuristic Showpiece." Washington Post. August 24, C7.

1987j "NYCB, the No. 1 and Only." Washington Post. October 16, DI.

1987k "The Washington Ballet's Opening Solo: Solid Program Highlights and Able Troupe." Washington Post. October 17, Dl.

19871 "NYCB: Merely Great; The Company's Rewarding Modem Classics." Washington Post. October 23, B2.

1987m "NYCB: Martins' New Mastery." Washington Post. October 24, B7.

1987n "ABT's Up-and-Down Salute." Washington Post. February 19, B2.

1988a "Harlem's Flawed 'Bugaku'." Washington Post. March 18, D2.

1988b "Balanchine: Lord of the Dance." Washington Post. April 3, X I1.

1988c "Beneath the Surface of'Swan Lake'; Plumbing the Depths Of a Classic Ballet." Washington Post. May 15, G l.

1988d "ABT, Bringing Out the Big Guns; Two Premiers Spark A Powerhouse Program." Washington Post. June 16, Cl.

I988e "Ashton: Steps Of a Giant; The Grand & Winning Tradition Of a Master Choreographer." Washington Post. August 20, Cl.

1988f "The Love Connection; Variations on a Theme, Making All Ballets as One." Washington Post. August 21, G l.

1988g "Glimpsing The Future of Dance; At Festivals, Ballet Stumbles While Modem Soars." Washington Post. August 28, G l.

1988h "Dance The Spare Appeal of Bugaku." Washington Post. October 13, B3.

1989a "Dance; Classical Harlem, At the Heights; Bravura Balanchine At the Opera House." Washington Post. March 15, Bl.

1989b "Dance; The Jewels In ABT's Treasury; Tippet Premiere, Taylor Open 2-Week Run." Washington Post. April 6, Bl.

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1989c "Divine Cunningham." Washington Post. May 5, D2.

1989d "Dance; Washington Ballet, In Good Humors." Washington Post. May 11, Cl.

1989e "Taking Dance by Brainstorm; In San Francisco, Critics Discuss the Future of the Art." Washington Post. June 18, Gl.

1989f "Dance; Miami's Firm First Steps." Washington Post. June 29, D3.

1989g "Joffrey's Swirling Balanchine Ball." Washington Post. October 5, Dl.

1989h "The Fabulous Five; Alexandra Danilova, Dancing Through Love and Commotion." Washington Post. December 3, Gl.

19891 "By Leaps and Turns; An Epoch Overtaken by Other Styles, Other Cultures." Washington Post. December 31, G7.

1990a "Petit, at the Extremes; The Marseille Ballet's 'Pavlova' Premiere." Washington Post. January 25, BIO.

1990b "Dance; The Feld Refresher." Washington Post. February 7, C4.

1990c "Dance; Terrific 'Temperaments'; The Brilliance of Harlem's Arthur Mitchell." Washington Post. March 16, B2.

1990d "TV Previews; Evoking Balanchine and Ailey." Washington Post. March 30, B3.

1990e "Dance; Australians' 'Spartacus': Spare Us." Washington Post. August 4, G3.

1990f "Dance; Miami Spice; At Wolf Trap, a Dash of Balanchine." Washington Post. August 10, Cl.

1990g "Dance; Steps in the Right Direction." Washington Post. October 22, B2.

1991a "Dance; ABT's Subdued Opener." Washington Post. January 16, C12.

1991b "TV Previews; Bountiful Corps of Ballerinas." Washington Post. January 11, D4.

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1991c "Dance; Ashton's Royal Treatment." Washington Post. March 16, D3.

199 Id "Dance; NYC Ballet's Reawakened 'Beauty'." Washington Post. April 26, Bl.

199 le "Dance; The Conundrum Of Commissions; The Risks and Rewards of Choreography to Go." Washington Post. June 16, Gl.

199 If "The Kirov Ballet, Building on Historic Change." Washington Post. October 13, Gl.

199 Ig "Dance; 'Anna's' Dearth of Drama; Ballet West Shows Other Strengths." Washington Post. October 14, D7.

1991h "Dance; The Kirov Ballet's Repertoire Revolution; Breaking New Ground With Its First Tudor." Washington Post. October 17, C2.

1991i "Dance; Kirov's Westward Expansion; Absorbing the Works of Lost Son Balanchine." Washington Post. October 28, D7.

1992a "Dance; Glow From the Northwest; The Seattle Company Shines in 'Gesture'." Washington Post. January 29, BI.

1992b "Pacific's Sweet 'Dream'." Washington Post. February 1, HI2.

1992c "Dance; Harlem, As Always, A Step Ahead." Washington Post. March 19, C2.

1992d "Dance; Winnipeg's Northern Composure." Washington Post. April 2, D8.

1992e "Dance; Classic Is as Classic Does; ABT Stages a Frederick Ashton Masterwork." Washington Post. April 3, D2.

1992f "Dance; The Bright Balanchine Breed; Miami City Ballet, Honoring the Master." Washington Post. July 25, B 1.

1993a "Living the Moment; Suzanne Farrell, Balanchine's Muse, Carries On." Washington Post. February 21, G3.

1993b "Dance; Miami's American Classics; Struggling to Live Up to the Balanchine Tradition." Washington Post. March 8, B3.

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1993c "Dance; Mr. B., Keeping 'Em on Their Toes." Washington Post. May 6, D6.

1993d "Critic's View; The Balanchine Bash(ing)." Washington Post. June 20, G4.

1993e "Dance; 'Dinner With Balanchine': A Ballet Feast." Washington Post. June 29, D2.

1993f "Dance; ABT & NYCB Dancers: Heat But Little Fire." Washington Post. July 15, C8.

I993g "Dance; N.Y., N.Y., A Wonderful Turn— Mostly." Washington Post. October 9, D8.

1993h "Dance; Washington Ballet's Exuberant Opener." Washington Post. October 30, G2.

1993i "Views From the Top: Arthur Mitchell." Washington Post. December 5, G7.

1993j "Is it the Score? The Steps? The Sugar Plum? After 100 Years, 'Nutcracker' Mania Is Still a Mystery." Washington Post. December 19, Gl.

1994a "Dance; Villella's Miami Heat; Balanchine-Inspired Troupe Sizzles at Wolf Trap." Washington Post. August 25, C2.

1994b "Performance; The Violinist and Dancers' Pas de Deux." Washington Post. March 9, D2.

1994c "Harlem Troupe Delivers a Pallid 'Prodigal'." Washington Post. April 13, Cl.

1994d "High Pointe for Miami City Ballet; Troupe Debuts at Kennedy Center." Washington Post. April 27, D l.

1994e "Miami's Crowning 'Jewels'." Washington Post. May I, D7.

1994f "An Inspiration, by George; Suzanne Farrell Remembers a Moving Relationship." Washington Post. October 15, Gl.

1995a "Farrell's Incredible Balanchine Act." Washington Post. October 19, DL

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1995b "Farrell's Burnished 'Balanchine'." Washington Post. October 21, H6.

1995c "Last Dance: A Year-- and A Career." Washington Post. December 31, G l.

1996a "Kirstein: Visions of Dance in His Head; Renaissance Man Brought Balanchine, and More, to American Arts." Washington Post. January 8, B2.

1996b "If You Don't Like Arithmetic, You'll Love the Beauty of Mathematics." Washington Post. March 13, HI.

About Graham, Martha

1974 "Endowment Dance Grants." Washington Post. November 30, B13.

1975a "Nureyev, Fonteyn, Villella and Astaire 'Dance on Film'." Washington Post. February 2, E3.

1975b "Dancing With Sheer Energy." Washington Post. April 11, Bl 1.

1975c "Creative Testament." Washington Post. April 12, C4.

1975d "Dance: A Golden Year Celebration." Washington Post. April 18, E8.

1975e "Of Past Aspirations and Present Achievements." Washington Post. June 12, G l, G13.

1975f "'Lucifer': Startling Detente of Dance." Washington Post. June 21, Cl.

1975g "Bound for Covent Garden." Washington Post. December 9, C4.

1975h "A Hefty Grant and a Haunting Premiere for the Nation's Modem Dance...A Legacy." Washington Post. December 12, Bl, B2.

1976a "A Theater of Images." Washington Post. March 5, B11.

1976b "Td Still Like to Be Up There Dancing'." Washington Post. March 6, Bl, B4.

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1976c "Martha Graham Creations at Lisner." Washington Post. March 8, B4.

1976d "Martha Graham Kudos." Washington Post. April 8, C20.

1976e "The Earth Mother of Dance." Washington Post. November 14, Kl, K7.

1976f "A Triumph for Graham." Washington Post. November 16, C11.

1976g "Awesome Ballet." Washington Post. November 18, C l5.

1977a "Cunningham Now; Honoring Dance's Artistic Maverick." Washington Post. January 30, El.

1977b "'Trailblazers': A Triumph." Washington Post. June 22, B6.

1977c "Martha Graham's 'Phaedra' at Wolf Trap." Washington Post. June 25, B6.

1979 "'Frankie and Johnny': Pungent America." Washington Post. April 11, B4.

1980a "Dancers By the Dozen." Washington Post. April 25, C7.

1980b "Jerome Robbins in Prime Time."Washington Post. June 29, E l.

1981a "The Graham Vision: Dance as Sculpture; The Tedium of Genius; The Prophetess & Her Troupe at the Kennedy Center." Washington Post. February 25, Bl.

1981b "The Invincible Martha Graham: The First Lady of Modem Dance." Washington Post. February 25, B7.

1981c "Graham's Startlingly Sublime 'Judith'." Washington Post. February 26, D ll.

1981d "Dance Notes." Washington Post. June 11, D6.

1981e "Overnight Stardom Still Happens." Washington Post. December 27, F3.

1982a "Revival and Revelation; The Changing Legacy Of the Dance World." Washington Post. June 27, Dl.

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1982b "N.Y.C. Ballet: Dazzling in D.C." Washington Post. October 14, D9.

1983a "How the East Was Won." Washington Post. May 12, E9.

1983b "The Whys & Wherefores of Style." Washington Post. August 21, Kl.

1984a "The Spring of Martha Graham." Washington Post. April 8, HI.

1984b "You Can Dance to It; Combining the Composer and the Choreographer." Washington Post. July 1, FI.

1984c "Graham Gets Grant to Film Dances." Washington Post. July 19, D9.

1985 "Merce Cunningham, Choice Dances by Choice." Washington Post. March 24, FI.

1986 "En Avant-Garde! On the Artistic Front Line in New York." Washington Post. June 15, Bl.

1989a "Martha Graham & Her Magical Muse; The Choreographer's Creative Wellspring." Washington Post. March 26, G l.

1989b "Dance; The Timeless Graham; At Kennedy Center, Unparalleled Pieces." Washington Post. March 29, Cl.

1989c "Merce Cunningham's Overdue Debut; At the Kennedy Center, High-Minded Movement With the Spirit of Simplicity." Washington Post. April 30, G l.

1991a "Dance; Graham's Sculpted Motion; At GMU, the Choreographer’s Arousing Archetypes." Washington Post. March 4, B2.

1991b "Appreciation; The Timeless Martha Graham; With Her Choreography, Defining a Century of Modem Dance." Washington Post. April 2, E l.

1991c "Dance; Harlem Troupe's Engaging 'Dialogues'; New Work Meshes Classical and Modem." Washington Post. April 3, Cl.

1992 "Dance; Harlem, In Need of Nourishment." Washington Post. March 21, B2.

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1993a "As the World Dances; The Global Vision of PBS's Ambitious 'Dancing'." Washington Post. May 2, G6.

1993b "Dance; For the Glory of Graham; Tharp Premiere Highlights Gala." Washington Post. October 7, C2.

1993c "Appreciation; Dance's Magnificent Desperado; Agnes de Mille, Keeping Choreography on the Run." Washington Post. October 8, Dl.

1994a "Dance; A Showcase of College Trends." Washington Post. May 3, B2.

1994b "TV Preview; The Spirit of Martha Graham." Washington Post. May 13, D2.

1994c "Don't Despair for Dance; Innovation Flourishes in the Summer Festivals." Washington Post. August 28, G8.

I994d "Steps in the Right Direction; From Twyla Tharp to Mark Morris, a Fall Dance Season that Kicks." Washington Post. September 18, G16.

1995a "The Breakup of a Modem Marriage; WPAS and Kennedy Center End Their Dance America Partnership." Washington Post. April 30, G05.

1995b "A Dramatic Move; Theatrical Wizard Robert Wilson Ventures into Modem Dance." Washington Post. October 29, G02.

1995c "A Spiritual Pas de Deux; Robert Wilson Captures Martha Graham's Essence." Washington Post. November 4, C01.

1996a "Ethel Butler: Firm Footing, Soaring Spirit." Washington Post. April 12, D01.

About Hawkins, Erick

1974 "Dancing at the National Symphony." Washington Post. July 20, E5.

1976 "Dance." Washington Post. July 19, B9.

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1977a "Visual Imagery of Erick Hawkins." Washington Post. April 29, E ll.

1977b "In Touch With Nature: 'Bursting Loose' In the Warmth and the Greenery." Washington Post. June 20, B6.

1977c "Bits and Pieces of the Arts in China; Bearing Gifts; A Dazzling Chinese Show- As Perplexing as Ever." Washington Post. July 16, LI.

1978 "A Big Step for Dance; Will the American Dance Festival Find Happiness in Durham, N.C.?" Washington Post. August 27, HI.

1979a "Dance Notes." Washington Post. March 10, B5.

1979b "Footnotes On the Seventies." Washington Post. December 16, HI.

1980a "Fascinating Footsteps Beyond the Mainstream." Washington Post. May 19, Ml.

1980b "Dancing Visions." Washington Post. December 5, F10.

1980c "Fantastic Dreams of Erick Hawkins." Washington Post. December 6, D7.

1981 "In Step With Hawkins." Washington Post. October 5, D3.

1984 "'Totem' Masked With Symbolism." Washington Post. January 23, B3.

1985a "Dance: The New York City Ballet, Beginning a Blockbuster Year." Washington Post. September 8, Kl.

1985b "The Steps of a Half Century; Erick Hawkins, Dancing His Own Way." Washington Post. September 19, C2.

1985c "Dance; Hawkins, Stepping Boldly." Washington Post. September 20, B3.

1987a "Hot Dates for Cool Nights; Brisk Tempo of Performances Will Ward off Autumn's Chill." Washington Post. September 13, F3.

1987b "Erick Hawkins' Dance to a Different Drummer." Washington Post. October 25, FI.

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1987c "Haunting Image; Erick Hawkins Company at the Kennedy Center." Washington Post. October 28, D9.

I987d "Hawkins, in a Revel." Washington Post. October 29, Cl 1.

1987e "The Spirited Native Dancer." Washington Post. November 8, F6.

1987f "Shattering Losses & Heralded Returns." Washington Post. December 27, HI.

1988 "The Light and the Fantastic: Choreographer Alwin Nikolias." Washington Post. September 18, Gl.

1989a "Meehan's Cool Composure." Washington Post. April 24, B7.

1989b "Dance, Burnside and Kopavi: Virginia's Modem Pioneers." Washington Post. July 10, B4.

1990 "Dance; Not Ready for Primal Time." Washington Post. April 3, C3.

1991a "Dance; The Height of Hawkins." Washington Post. February 27, B9.

1991b "Dance; A Hawkins Nocturne." Washington Post. February 28, D4.

1991c "Dance; Hawkins's 'Divine' Touch." Washington Post. April 13, D3.

1991d "The Calm Without the Storm; A Walk on the Mild Side with Buffy Price." Washington Post. September 9, B7.

1991e "Dance; Area Performances, Leaping to New Heights." Washington Post. December 29, G6.

1993 "Pieds De Resistance; Paris Opera Ballet Opens at Kennedy Center." Washington Post. March 18, Dl.

1994 "Erick Hawkins, The Modem Man." Washington Post. November 25, BL

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About Jones, Bill T.

1977 "Dancers By the Dozen." Washington Post. April 25, C l.

1980a "Bill T. Jones." Washington Post. October 1, B2.

1980b "Bill T. Jones, Amie Zane."Washington Post. October 2, F11.

1981 "Dance Notes." Washington Post. May 14, D6.

1982a "Collector." Washington Post. February 14, H3.

1982b "Bill T. Jones' Multifarious Movement." Washington Post. February 17, C2.

1984a "The Joyous Dances of Jubilation." Washington Post. April 21, B2.

1984b "Stepping Into Better Times."Washington Post. September 9, K l.

1984c "Dancing With 'Freedom'." Washington Post. October 22, CIO.

1984d "Dance." Washington Post. December 30, K l.

1985a "Ailey's Bailiwick; The Troupe Dances Back Into Town." Washington Post. April 14, G5.

1985b "Dance Feats & Treats."Washington Post. August 11, H3.

1985c "Dance; Ailey's Classic Sizzle."Washington Post. August 15, B2.

1985d "Stylish, Spirited Ailey."Washington Post. October 18, D4.

1989a "Dance; First Steps and Quantum Leaps." Washington Post. September 10, G5.

1989b "Choreography o f Courage; Bill T. Jones, Dancing to the Memory of His Partner." Washington Post. December 2, C3.

1989c "Dance; Jones: Life After Loss."Washington Post. December 4, B7.

1989d "By Leaps and Turns; An Epoch Overtaken by Other Styles, Other Cultures." Washington Post. December 31, G7.

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1990a "Dance; Powerful 'Episodes' From Ailey." Washington Post. June I, B8.

1990b "A Birthday Barrage; Dance Place, WPAS Events Among Fall Highlights." Washington Post. December 9, G7.

1991a "By Dance Possessed; The Kinetic Energy of Bill T. Jones." Washington Post. March 17, G l.

1991b "Dance; 'Supper': Feast of The Spirit." Washington Post. March 23, Dl.

1991c "One Step Forward, 2 Steps Back." Washington Post. November II, D4.

1991d "Dance; Area Performances, Leaping to New Heights." Washington Post. December 29, G6.

1992a "Twyla Tharp: After 30 Years, Still One Step Ahead." Washington Post. April 19, Gl.

1992b "This Much Is Certain: The Dance Card Is Full; Despite Chaos Among Major Companies, This Season Is a Winner." Washington Post. September 13, G10.

1993 "Dance; Jones Co.'s Cathartic Intensity." Washington Post. January 20, Bl 1.

1994a "Dance; Rousseve's Cathartic 'Dreams'." Washington Post. February 19, G7.

1994b "Bill T. Jones, Living for His Next Dance." Washington Post. November 13, G6.

1994c "Dance; Bill T Jones, on Matter of Life & Death." Washington Post. November 21, C7.

1995 "Leaps and Boundaries; Curtailed by Budget Cuts, a Dance Season Struggles to Be Bold." Washington Post. September 10, G14.

About Morris, Mark

1985a "Dance: The New York City Ballet, Beginning a Blockbuster Year." Washington Post. September 8, K l.

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1985b "Mark Morris, Masterfully." Washington Post. November 11, C16.

1986 "On Dance's Cutting Edge." Washington Post. October 10, C8.

1987a "Mark Morris' Masterly Steps." Washington Post. May 16, G9.

1987b "CoDanceCo, Forging Ahead." Washington Post. May 30, C2.

1988a "Dance; ABT's Remarkable Leap; Morris & de Mille Highlight a Superb Bill." Washington Post. June 23, Bl.

1988b "Glimpsing The Future of Dance; At Festivals, Ballet Stumbles While Modem Dance Soars." Washington Post. August 28, Gl.

1989a "Dance '88; A Year of Losses & Fresh Faces." Washington Post. January 1, G4.

1989b "Varone in the Ascendant; A Ripe Fusion of Emotion & Musical Insight." Washington Post. April 24, Bl.

1990a "Rocking and Rolling in the Monnaie; Choreographic Wunderkid Mark Morris and the Brouhaha in Brussels." Washington Post. October 21, Gl.

1990b "Dance; Mark Morris, in Rare Form; At the Eisenhower, an Extrordinary Feast."Washington Post. October 24, Dl.

1990c "Dance; Morris, Outdoing Morris." Washington Post. October 25, D2.

1990d "Dance: 1990; Brilliance From Brussels, Diversity at Union Station, and a Flurry of Crises, Artistic and Financial." Washington Post. December 30, G8.

1991a "On the Road With Mark and Misha; Morris and Baryshnikov Take a New Turn With Their White Oak Dance Project." Washington Post. July 28, Gl.

1991b "Dance; Baryshnikov's White Oak Wow; Troupe Packs Wolf Trap For a Memorable Night." Washington Post. July 31, B1.

1992a "On Tap at the Kennedy Center; '92-93 Dance Season Includes the Joffrey's Return." Washington Post. March 12, C2.

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1992b "Dance; Floating Opera: Mark Morris's 'Dido and Aeneas'." Washington Post. October 22, Cl.

1992c "Dance; Crackerjack 'Nutcracker'; Mark Morris's Up-to-Date Version of the Classic." Washington Post. December 16, Cl.

1992d "Dance; Moving Slowly but Memorably."Washington Post. December 27, G6.

1993a "Dance; Grand Return For ABT; Troupe Lives Up to Its Bold Traditions." Washington Post. February 3, Cl.

1993b "Critic's View; Dance Lives! Trisha Brown and Mark Morris, Dispelling Gloom." Washington Post. May 16, G3.

1994a "Critic's View; New York's New Guard: A Glimpse of the Future; In Dance and Theater, a Younger Generation Takes Center Stage." Washington Post. March 13, G4.

1994b "Dance; San Francisco's Golden Gaits."Washington Post. May 18. C l.

1994c "Dance; The Solid Timber of White Oak; At the Warner, Baryshnikov's Project." Washington Post. May 20, Cl.

1994d "Steps in the Right Direction; From Twyla Tharp to Mark Morris, A Fall Dance Season That Kicks." Washington Post. September 18, G16.

1995a "'L'Allegro,' Superlatives in Motion." Washington Post. July 14, D03.

1995b "Here & Now." Washington Post. August 20, G03.

1995c "Baryshnikov, Going Against the Grain; With White Oak Project, a New Stage in Life." Washington Post. August 24, D01.

1995d "From White Oak, Solid Gold." Washington Post. August 26, D03.

Miscellaneous

1975a "A TV Tribute to American Dance." Washington Post. June 13, B l, B2.

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1975b "Overpopularizing the Ballet." Washington Post. November 20, E1,E2.

1976a '"Dance in America'." Washington Post. January 21, B1, B11.

1976b "Dance: All Is Not Well." Washington Post. May 30, FI, F2.

1976c "Dance: An Era of Unexpected Successes-and New Pitfalls." Washington Post. August 22, F3.

1976d "Dance in Literature: An Explosion in Print." Washington Post. November 21, G3.

Oral Interview

Kriegsman, Alan, dance critic for the Washington Post. Interview by author, 7 September 1999, Chevy Chase, Md. Tape Recording.

Secondary Sources

Articles and Books

Abeel, Erica. "The New Dance." Dance SCOPE 2, no. 1 (Fall 1965): 21-26.

Acocella, Joan. "How Critics Work." Dance Ink 3, no. 2 (Summer 1992): 8-11.

Adams, Hazard. The Interests o f Criticism. New York: San Francisco: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., 1969.

Adshead-Lansdale, Janet. "Dance and Critical Debate." Dance Theatre Journal 11, no. 1 (Winter 1993-94): 22-25.

Anderson, Jack and others, eds. "Dance Books in My Life." Dance Magazine, March 1969,38-42.

Banes, Sally. Writing Dancing in the Age o f Postmodernism. Hanover: Wesleyan University Press, 1994.

Barrett, Terry. Criticizing Art. Mountain View: Mayfield Publishing Company, 1994.

Beiswanger, George. "Doing and Viewing Dances: A Perspective for the Practice of Criticism." Dance Perspectives 55 (Autumn 1973): 7-13.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. no

______. "Rake's Progress or Dances and The Critic." Dance Scope 10, no. 2 (S/S 1976): 29-34.

Biovana, Elena. "The World of'Goldberg Variations'." Ballet Review 3, no. 6 (1971): 39-45.

Burnside, Fiona. "In Defense of Dance Criticism." Dance Theatre Journal 9, no. 1 (Summer 1991): 23,31.

Brinson, Peter. "Critics and Criticism." The Dancing Times (August 1963): 643,647.

Carter, Curtis L. "Some Notes on Aesthetics and Dance Criticism." Dance SCOPE 10, no.2 (S/S 1976).

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