'Tis the Season...to treat yourself ;)

So technically I should be saving my money, shopping for others, blah blah blah. But after the crazy week I've had with exams, rehearsals, cold weather (aka aching body), and a breakdown cry to top it all off I decided to treat myself along with 3 other friends and go see the new movie "Black Swan."

It turned out to be one of the best decisions I've made in a while.

I had seen the trailer and accompanying clips on the NY Times website but I still wasn't sure exactly what to expect. Turns out it was everything I could have wanted and more. It was the perfect balance of REAL dancing, relatable scenarios, and craziness.

"Black Swan" dealt with very real issues like mirror complex, perfectionism, body image, and role immersion that are present in the ballet world and then multiplied those emotions and complexes by 100 for a psycho thriller.

Natalie Portman does a stellar job of playing this deeply afflicted ballerina who has unhealthy relationships with her mom, director, dance, and herself. While its obvious that she has a body double (who dances beautifully) when the camera follows Portman's upper body her port de bras is striking and surprisingly believable. You can tell that she's been trained well and fully prepped for the role.

I encourage all to escape the cold and go see it. It's only playing in select theaters but it's worth it. After all, how often does a good dance movie (that's not hip-hop and cheesy)come along? Especially one that exploits the fact that ballet can and will fuck with your head.

Is All Publicity Good Publicity?: A look at recent dance criticism.

Before you read my post you must read these two Dance critiques by NY Times writers Alastair Macaulay and Rosalyn Lucas. Justtt to make sure we're all on the same page;) 

Webster defines criticism as:

The act or art of analyzing and evaluating or judging the quality of a literary or artistic work, musical performance, art exhibit, dramatic production, etc.

In the arts world, specifically of NYC, criticism can sometimes be a tough pill to swallow. Like I mentioned before, all serious dancers are carrying around this fragile little thing called an art baby (whether we know it or not) and when someone "judges" that...it can hurt. 

And yet, it's a necessary evil.

While dance critique has been around for a long time I think its safe to say that my generation has become a witness to its current change. Alastair Macaulay has a history of raising hackles in  the NY dance world and his most recent Complexions review (linked above) has helped to push dance criticism in a very different direction. Macaulay and Lucas have written "ballsy" reviews, telling it like it is without holding back. Its gutsy, sometimes hurtful, but you have to admit...it gets our attention.

While Macaulay is making some valid points his approach is a little to harsh for my liking. Using sharp, blunt sentences, and calling Mr. Rhoden's choreography "efficiently horrid" (within the first paragraph I might add!) was an unnecessary "judgment" of the quality as opposed to "analyzing and evaluating" the work like criticism is supposedly defined as doing. For me, Rosalyn Lucas' article was harsh yes, but not in a biting way. She seemed to truly be offering an outsiders perspective on the 51st season of AADTwhose rep, as a fact, has not caught up to the 21st century.

Dance criticism should consist of a fair and honest analyzation of choreography, evaluating of the dancers, and the overall quality of the individual show and sometimes company as a whole. But at the same time realizing that a lot of hard work, blood, sweat, and tears most likely went into the show being reviewed and despite the choreographer's mishaps or shortcomings, if the company's good, the dancers have worked their asses off to try and relay the vision the best they can and a dance critic should ALWAYS respect that.