There are numerous opinions about what constitutes a good dance review. However, the editor of World Dance Reviews considers the following points to be essential to good reviews. These points describe the type of reviews we are seeking for this site.

Get beyond your own biases.

Let's face it, we all have biases. Maybe I love Romantic and Classical Ballet, but do not like Contemporary Ballet, or Modern Dance. But that doesn't make all Modern Dance bad and all Classical Ballet good. A good review is not about what you like or do not like. Ideally, it is about the performance and the work of the performance personnel. Of course, a lot of opinion will end up in your reviews, but you do need to see past personal likes and dislikes and critique the performance in terms of what is presented.

Include essential basic information.

At the outset the review should tell readers the name of the performance, the name(s) of the companies and/or groups performing, the date of the performance you attended, and the venue (as specifically as possible, e.g., not the Denver Performing Arts Complex, but The Space Theatre at the Denver Performing Arts Complex).

Provide some context.

Tell readers if the artist(s) or companies and groups are new or well-established. Tell some noteworthy things about them. Let us know if this was some kind of special event.

Begin with what's good.

It always helps the artists if they can first read some good things about the performance before they read any serious critique you have to offer. It gives them reason and courage to read on. So try to put some good up front. At the very least, the choreographers and performers have worked hard and are willing to put themselves out there for the public to see. Respect their efforts.

Identify opinion and separate it from fact.

Try to label and separate critique that is based on your aesthetic from more objective critique based on some reality. For example: "To me, the dancers lacked a strong presence." (That's your opinion and others might disagree.) But "During the final movements, spotlights lagged well-behind the location of the dancers." (That's a more objective critical observation of something that actually happened—and can be fixed.)

Keep your solutions to yourself.

Try not to offer solutions to any 'problem'. Any 'fixes' you perceive are about you, not about the dance. If the artists value your opinions on appropriate solutions, they will be able to contact you by e-mail through the WDR site. (However, it's the WDR editor's personal experience that dancers seldom do that. Point made?)

Remember more people.

Try not to forget the 'behind the scenes' artists such as the lighting, set, and costume designers. Use their names. Comment on their work when you can.

End on a high note.

Include both positive and negative insights in your conclusion. Also tell readers where they can see any following performances of this specific concert or other performances by these companies or groups.

Some things to watch for.

What to 'watch for' in a dance is clearly dependent on genre, ethnicity, etc. But, there are some common elements. A reviewer might:

  • try to evaluate the degree of competence of the dancers in the genre/style performed. Do they become real, or are they abstract beings?
  •look at how space is used
  •evaluate the degree and content of any repetition, e.g., is it always the same, are there variations?
  •determine if there are uses of such simple 'tools' as
      •theme and variation
      •inversions
      •retrograde
  •look at how the music is used, e.g., does the dance always agree with, or does it disagree with the many aspects of the music like density, articulation, tempo, meter, and dynamic? What differences does the choreographer place in individual dancers in this respect?
  •determine if there is a theme other than that created by the sound score
  •determine what eye choices the dance requires.
  •decide if the choreographer has a sense of performance life

In performances of dances set by earlier choreographers, and/or 'classic' works it is important that you have a sense of that dance's history. There are many, many more things to look for and consider in dance. The above is in NO way a complete list. Use any program notes available to you, and never miss an opportunity to talk with the choreographer(s). It always helps if you understand something of the choreographers' intentions.