What's the Problem with Dance? -- Great Dance Weblog

Background

Upcoming Book

In addition to Great, Dance Fox also writes the Dance That Matters blog, which features the stories of dancers who inspire individuals, organizations and communities through the power of movement.

Audio Podcasts

Emily Johnson
Liz Lerman
James Oliverio
Beth Miklavcic & Jimmy Miklavcic
Yacov Sharir
Jeroen Fabius
Jody Sperling
Rose Eichenbaum
Douglas McLennan
Princess Mhoon Cooper
Marlon Barrios-Solano
Ursula Payne
Jo-Anne Green
Johannes Birringer
Doug Rosenberg - 2nd
Doug Rosenberg - 1st
Matthew Gough
View All Podcasts...
View on iTunes...

White Papers

Embracing Blogs: A New Blueprint for Promoting Dance on the Internet

Resources

Dance & Technology Directory

February 06, 2006

What's the Problem with Dance?

Why is it that in most bookstores the amount of shelf space devoted to dance books is significantly less than the amount devoted to books about classical music and opera? When you compare the amount of shelf space devoted to dance in comparison to the visual arts the problem is magnified many times over.

Why is that on ArtsJournal, an online publication of news stories and blogs covering the arts, dance is the least popular subject category? You'll notice that dance is the last category on the home page - scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page.

Why is it that that are many more music appreciation classes than dance appreciation classes at colleges and universities?

Why is it that the Washington Post doesn't have a dedicated page of dance articles? (You have to click on "Theater" to get to dance reviews).

Why is it that many people who attend classical music and theater performances never see dance performances?

Why do many people feel alienated from concert dance?

Why is it that newspapers such as the Village Voice cut-back on their dance coverage?

Why are there so many blogs devoted to the visual arts and classical music but very few devoted to dance?

Why is it that there are wonderful guides on how to appreciate classical music and opera written for those with no or limited exposure to orchestral music, but just about nothing comparable in the dance world? For example, Phil G. Goulding has written two excellent books about classical music and opera.

Why is it that companies such as The Teaching Company, which produces wonderful college-level courses on CDs/DVDs on a large range of arts and humanities subjects, does not have a single course on dance? The Teaching Company has a great series of courses on classical music and opera taught by Professor Robert Greenberg. His program "How to Listen to and Understand Great Music" is phenomenal.

And, finally, who within the dance community is discussing these issues?

There's no reason for dance to be the stepchild of the arts. There are answers to all of the above questions and they ought to be uncovered in a comprehensive and systematic way.

Bookmark with your favorite service

Read related stories:

Posted by Doug Fox on February 6, 2006 07:05 AM

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://greatdance.com/mtadmin/mt-tb.cgi/344

Reader Comments

We dance lovers, and even more contemporary dance lovers, are quite used to these questions. I wonder whether seeing bodies, and moving bodies, has not remained extremely unusual, unfamiliar to our western cultures since European Renaissance. The practicing of traditional dances has nearly disappeared, and as for learned dance (would you say so for "danse savante"?), it appears either boring, or intimidating for most people, whereas I (we ?) find it the true expression of art, joy and eroticism.

Fortunately, there are some dance websites on the Net, and may be you will find some interesting links on my blog !
Truly yours,
JD.
PS. Sorry for my frenglish ;-)

Posted by: JD at February 9, 2006 08:43 AM

Add Your Comment

Send Post to a Friend

About

Since 2005, Doug Fox's blog has covered the intersection of dance and the Internet. A primary focus is to help dancers and dance companies use the Internet and their dance videos for marketing, educational, creative and revenue-generation purposes.

Email Doug Fox with inquiries, questions and feedback about Great Dance.

Subscribe to Feed