Earnest, Informational, Thoughtful

If you're one of the people who thinks they don't know anything about dance, this is a great place to start. Radio can be surprisingly effective at capturing so physical a form, and this piece satisfyingly details the reasoning behind the movement and topic choices of several major modern-dance choreographers. Mostly, it tries to clarify what can be, to dance audiences old and new, some pretty confusing stuff.

The story starts out with a funny rundown of what "regular folks" think about modern dance, and then tries to educate a similar listenership. Solid, earnest interviews--with blue-chip modern choreographers such as Liz Lerman, David Dorfman, and Rennie Harris, as well as with the leading scholar Suzanne Carbonneau--put words to a form that is often silent, and too often unheard in the mass media.

Just a few quibbles: I was surprised to hear the narrator mention that American Dance Festival is in its 80th year and thus older than Jacob's Pillow. In fact, the Pillow's 75th anniversary was last year, and ADF's 75th anniversary is this year.

Also, although I happen to be an avid dancegoer, the writing at times felt a little simplistic. Metaphors such as "spring like a cat," used twice, can be replaced in favor of meatier phrasing, I'm sure. Still, the chief message comes through clearly--to paraphrase Carbonneau, humans are physical creatures, so dance doesn't have to feel so foreign to the wider population. With more pieces being done like this, we're on the way!

French C.
Lee, MA
April 29, 2008

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