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.5.Length of book in pages.6.Special distinguishing features.Page 255Drama and Dance Reviews/CriticismAlong with film, books, and television, drama is one of the traditional major subjects of reviewing and criticism in the United States.Interest in dance, such as ballet, is growing and becoming an important specialization in the arts for those writing features for the mass media.Although the "national theater" remains centered in New York, most people who write about drama and theater are not in New York.These are the people in the hinterlands and other metropolitan areas writing about regional and local theater productions at the professional and amateur levels.Theater has spread across the country in the past 40 years, resulting in a rather sophisticated system of regional and community theaters and drama companies that are no longer solely focused in Manhattan.There are audiencesupported theaters in just about every metropolitan area that offer drama and dance.As a drama critic, you have the duty to look at all the drama performances in your area, good or bad.Hunt says:[T]he critic, who must attend all the plays, sees a theater that includes occasional ineptness and a great number of nottoonear misses.He knows that it is easiest to write a rave notice.But more often he will have to struggle to explain a play's apparent purpose, where it failed its goal, and what rewards remain to be found.What makes it worthwhile, of course, is the occasional evening in the theater when the mind is engaged, the imagination is stretched, the intellect is rewarded.(1972, p.83) Like reviewing and criticizing other art forms, you must be well prepared to write a drama or dance review.Some reviewers read plays before seeing them performed—easy to do on established works but not so easy with debut material.Others do not read plays, regardless of whether they are available.What you can do, if possible, is read other material by the same playwright.It is also important to learn as much as you can about the cast prior to the performance.Learn their names and roles, just as a sports writer learns the numbers of key players in a game before it begins.Also note the producer, director, and the other behindthescenes personnel who contribute to the production.You can get some of this background from the playbill or program, but you can also obtain it from the promotion department of the theater a few days before the performance.Page 256As in book reviewing, be careful not to reveal too much of the story line when reviewing a dramatic performance.Telling too much spoils the experience for others.The critical elements in a drama review must address the play's plot and its relevance, the performance of major actors singly and as a group, the direction they received, staging and sets, costuming, sound, lighting, audience reaction, and overall assessment of the night's entertainment.Any unusual developments, such as technical problems, should also be addressed if they affected the experience.Of course, reviewers often compare and contrast a current production with earlier versions of the same work by different companies or, in some cases, the same one.The information box for a theater advance or opening night review for a series of performances (not a onetime show) usually contains some or all of the following information:1.Name of play, author or choreographer.2.Major actors and name of the touring company (if any).3.Date(s) and location.4.Ticket price scale, locations of ticket sales points.5.Reviewer/critic rating of the overall performance.Generally, these information boxes do not run with theater reviews that are written on performances that are onetime shows in a particular area.Dance, although not nearly as popular in most areas as dramatic theater, still provides creative opportunities for reviewers and critics.Modern dance companies, many with uncertain support levels, certainly deserve the critical attention of the local media.More traditional dance groups, such as ballet companies, are perhaps more stable and generally receive critical review when new performances are staged.Like classical music reviews, dance reviews must educate the public.Few readers of dance reviews thoroughly understand what they have seen enough to not want assistance in interpreting what the performance achieved or did not achieve.What do you concern yourself with in a dance review? The focus must be on two levels: the effort of the dance group as a whole or an entity and the effort of the troupe's star dancers or directors.Because a single performer or director dominates many dance groups, this is an important point of view.Hunt (1972) suggested rereviewing dance companies to measure the degree of growth and change in the company over a season.Because performances are not always the same,Page 257this is a helpful strategy if time and space permit it.In Cleveland, The Plain Dealer's dance critic Wilma Salisbury, wrote this review of a recent show: Doug Varone and Dancers looked like ordinary people Saturday night in the Ohio Theatre on Playhouse Square.Each of the eight dancers projected strong personality.The women ranged in type from tall and willowy to short and dynamic.A couple of the men were middleaged and balding.Though the dancers did not fit the stereotypical image of a contemporary dance company in a youthoriented culture, they performed at a technical level that was nothing short of astonishing.Varone's challenging postmodern choreography required them to shift instantly from simple pedestrian movements to superhuman physicality.A soloist who was nonchalantly ambling across stage suddenly flew through space with rocketlike momentum.A group of dancers who seemed to be freely improvising somehow segued seamlessly into highly structured choreography.In a postconcert discussion, Varone said Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly were the models for his smooth transitions from everyday movement to extraordinary dancing.But Varone's intense works are nothing like the lighthearted Hollywood movies that inspired them.And his company's effortless performance style is dramatically different from that of the Repertory Project, the contemporary Cleveland company that has presented several of his dances.The program consisted of three ensemble pieces and a duet.Each work was simply costumed by Lynne Steincamp and effectively lighted by David Ferri.Accompanying music was played on tape.The company was introduced in "Possession," Varone's intriguing response to A.S.Byatt's romantic novel of the same title.The book tells the story of two contemporary literary scholars who have an affair while researching two Victorian poets who also had an affair.The nonlinear choreography develops movement motifs that evoke mysterious intertwined relationships.The ideas are stated in a prologue for eight dancers, then explored in two contrasting quartets
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