Greetings Danceletter readers,
When I last wrote, I was sitting on a balcony in Berlin, in the midst of a summer sort-of-vacation, hitting “send” on an interview with the mystery Instagram dance meme creator known as Felden Krisis (a.k.a @somatic_based_content_only). I was delighted to receive many enthusiastic responses to the interview. Whoever/wherever you are, FK, thanks for answering my questions (and for the continued meme excellence).
Summer travel (it was so nice) now feels very far away. I’m back in New York, back to teaching in person, even back to reviewing live shows on a semi-regular basis. I’m writing today with one of those “what I’ve been up to” editions of this newsletter, along with your occasional reminder that if you no longer want to receive Danceletter, you are free to unsubscribe (no hard feelings). Also, if you at one point signed up for a paid subscription, please be sure to read the important “subscription business” below.
Cruise ship dancing & more
If you know me, you know I am perennially “stressed about work” and have my share of complaints about freelance arts writing and adjunct teaching (basically, I wish our society valued these things enough to adequately compensate them / that there were more paths to long-term financial stability for people who make and write about art). At the same time, especially when I have a reprieve from imminent deadlines, I’m able to step back and feel really grateful for the work I get to do, which is like 90% seeing interesting stuff and talking to interesting people (and writing about it). Not so bad.
Here are some fruits of that labor from the past few months:
Maybe because of my own experience as a dancer with a commercial enterprise (yes, Riverdance), I’ve always been curious about the world of cruise ship entertainment. When I learned that some of the artists behind the Dance Cartel — a New York City-based group known for its party-meets-performance live events — were making a show for a cruise line, I thought: Now’s my chance. Reporting for this story involved boarding a frighteningly large boat docked in midtown Manhattan (cruise ships are scary?) to see the show, which, should you find yourself aboard a Virgin Voyages cruise, is definitely worth checking out.
Speaking of fair compensation for artists and writers, I spoke to choreographer and performer Miguel Gutierrez about his podcast “Are You for Sale?,” a refreshingly frank and transparent exploration of money and art-making. You can read our interview here and, if you’re curious, listen to the podcast here.
I’ve been getting back into the swing of reviewing live performances, after many months of few-and-far-between reviews. Julie Mayo’s Nerve Show, at Target Margin Theater, had me thinking about the uncertainty of this not-over-yet pandemic and dance’s ability to suspend us in a place of not-knowing. Bill T. Jones’s Deep Blue Sea at the Park Avenue Armory gave me a lot to unpack.
Over the summer, I published a piece in Harper’s Bazaar (my fashion mag debut), to accompany Amy Troost’s stunning dance photo portfolio in the August “Performance Issue.” I spoke to some of the featured artists about dancing through a time of isolation and social transformation, the thrill of returning to live performance, and what they hope to leave behind in pre-pandemic times.
Also this summer, I spoke with Berlin-based Singaporean artist Choy Ka Fai about his work for the Tanz im August festival; spent time at the Chocolate Factory’s goodbye/hello street party; and wrote about the online conversation series Black Dance Stories and its magnanimous host, Charmaine Warren.
For the New York Times fall arts preview, I wrote a little bit about one of my favorite topics — dance class — and the reopening of studios in New York.
I’ve also been continuing to work with Our Steps, the project founded by Jean Butler to both archive Irish step dance and propel it into new creative territory. On the “Dialogue” page of the Our Steps website, you can find illuminating new writing by Nic Gareiss, on “queer Irish dancestry”; Rosanna Jahangard, on her experiences as a half-Iranian Irish dancer; and an intergenerational group of dancers, who reflect on the impact of Covid-19 within Irish dance.
Subscription Business
(If you signed up long ago for a paid subscription to Danceletter, please read this part!)
In March 2020 I opened up paid subscriptions for this newsletter. All subscription revenue went to Covid-19 relief funds for NYC artists. In December, having raised more than $4300, I brought the fundraiser to a close and paused paid subscriptions.
To ensure that no one is involuntarily charged again, I will be changing all paying subscribers to a “free sign-up” status. You may receive an email saying “your subscription has ended,” but you’ll still be signed up to receive the newsletter (for free).
If you don’t want to end your paid subscription, please let me know by Friday, Oct. 15, simply by replying to this email. Moving forward, revenue from subscriptions ($5/month or $30/year) will support the work of producing this newsletter; it will go toward compensating me and any outside Danceletter contributors. (Paying and non-paying subscribers will receive the same content; you can think of paid subscriptions as a sort of Danceletter tip jar.) So, again, unless I hear from you otherwise, I’ll change your subscription status to “free sign-up”; you’ll keep receiving the newsletter and won’t be charged again. Hope this makes sense, and please holler with any questions.
Have I sent this one before?
Yesterday I spoke with a group of performing arts students at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, about my work as a (formerly dancing) dance writer. To give them a sense of my dance background, I shared this video of the opening number of Riverdance (from 1996 at Radio City Music Hall, featuring Colin Dunne), a piece I danced many, many times on the show’s 10th-anniversary tour. Since Irish dance came up a couple of times in this dispatch, I thought it would be an appropriate sign-off:
Till next time,
Siobhan