Through the Eyes of a Dancer: Selected Writings

A Debate on Snark

318 | A Debate on Snark Blog post, March 6, 2012, dancemagazine.com This post—and the panel discussion it was based on—garnered support from many dancers. Not surprisingly, a couple dance critics voiced their displeasure. I guess I got what I deserved. On the other hand, Robert Johnson, whom I take issue with here, remains a buddy; we often enjoy disagreeing with each other. When writing this, I wasn’t thinking of my 1991 screed about critics (“Beware the Egos of Critics,” Section IV), but I can now see they are related. Okay, I’m rolling up my sleeves. Robert Johnson and I were polite with each other in a “Meet the Press” panel at the sold-out symposium sponsored by Dance/nyC on February 26. Since then, Robert has posted his “In Defense of Snarky Reviews” in writing. So now I’m gonna say my side of it. I have no problem with a critic getting sarcastic once in a while. But I think the snarky negativity has gotten out of hand. Sometimes it’s an automatic response, and sometimes it’s got just a bit more venom than is necessary —under the guise of “just being honest.” When I talk to dance people, the conversation often turns to this troubling topic. People are upset by the uptick in snark in nyC’s main daily paper, the New York Times. Jamie Bennett of the National Endowment for the Arts, who moderated our panel, picked up on this and plunged right in. He asked each of us (me, Robert Johnson, Brian Seibert, and Gus Solomons jr) where we stand on “snark.” (Do I need to define it? I think it’s somewhere in the neighborhood of snide, condescending, and dismissive.) Robert’s point is that if a performance is bad, the critic should say so. Our fellow panelist, Brian, who writes for the Times, said that sarcasm is useful when you are trying to write a coherent review of an ephemeral art in a short space. I can basically agree with both those points. (Though, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, critics have gotten snarky about excellent performances as well as bad ones.) And I appreciate how eloquent both Robert and Brian were about the challenge of putting dance into words. What I object to is excessive snark, either in frequency or intensity. I don’t think either Robert or Brian is guilty of this. But I think some critics don’t realize when they’ve slipped into a default setting of snark. It’s easy to throw From 2007 to 2012 | 319 the darts once you get into the habit, and I don’t deny that snarky reviews are fun to read. I get it that readers and editors want a certain snap. Robert wants his reviews to protect the ticket-buying public. But I’ve seen audience members who enjoy a night out at the ballet and then are appalled two days later when they read a totally dismissive review. I’ve heard one person say, “Are the critics trying to destroy the dance world?” The snark habit is destructive—not only to dancers’ psyches but also to ticket sales, bookings, and reputations. I think critics should feel free to write in their individual voice, but they should also have a sense of the responsibility that comes with their power. And the New York Times has more power than most papers in most big cities. The English choreographer Wayne McGregor told me recently that when he does a premiere in London, there might be fifteen different reviews . As Gus pointed out, nyC used to be a multi-newspaper town too. But it’s more centralized now, which is unfortunate. And that’s where the blogosphere comes in: it can add more voices. In the website NJ.com Robert writes, “In my opinion, snark is an especially appropriate gift for the high-and-mighty. It’s the pin-prick that makes over-inflated reputations shrivel and sputter.” I wish snark were used that judiciously. But let’s face it, there aren’t many high-and-mighty people in concert dance, and the critics who get nasty are pretty indiscriminate. If a critic punctures the reputation of a tv personality or a movie star, it doesn’t ruin a career. In our economically challenged art of dance, that puncture wound can be devastating. Deborah Jowitt wrote in her collection The Dance in Mind: “Long ago I decided that...