Elizabeth Zimmer, long time dance critic with the Village Voice, among other publications, discusses the issues of dance coverage in the Internet era in this article.
Those of us who perform in Atlanta are facing the same problems she describes, as the few outlets of dance coverage in the city become sparser and sparser. However, we are lucky to have a new online outlet for arts criticism in ArtsCriticATL.com that will include dance. As a writer, Ms. Zimmer is not a fan of reviews on blogs because most often the writers are not paid, but from the performer's point of view, it's a fantastic thing to get reviews from any credible source.There are also some discussions happening with MAACC and the arts community about trying to create a place for reviews online. Can we create a structure that will actually pay writers for their critiques, or at least an editor to look at them before putting them online? If so, what does it look like? Dance Source Houston uses their membership dues and other funding to pay freelance writers for reviews. Is it something dancers/dance groups in Atlanta would pay a membership fee to support? or can we find enough writers willing to write for free to cover most of what happens in town? (and if it's volunteer only, how can we be sure the quality is up to snuff?)
Thanks, Claire. Check out my first online dance article on artscriticATL.com. The article is about Lauri Stallings' upcoming site-specific work at the Woodruff Arts Center. More next week.
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