Writing on Dance

What is dance writing? Is it reportage? Documentation? Analysis? Opinion? Advocacy? Creative response? What do we want and need it to be in a time of declining opportunities for professional arts writers in mainstream media and the rapid rise of alternative media?

In this six-week series, we will focus on writing as a response to dance, an equally creative act utilizing the resources of the Internet. We will fully engage with the most alive art imaginable, the intimate art of the body, by liberating the potential of our voices. We intend to blast open the traditional role of dance critic and offer dance artists a dynamic new partner.

Eva Yaa Asantewaa has been published as a freelance journalist since 1976--most notably in Dance Magazine, Soho News, The Village Voice, The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer and Gay City News. She served as a member of the New York Dance and Performance ("Bessies") Awards committee from 2005-2008. Her creative writing has appeared in various journals and anthologies, including The Zenith of Desire: Contemporary Lesbian Poems about Sex (Crown), Does Your Mama Know? An Anthology of Black Lesbian Coming Out Stories (RedBone Press), An Eye for An Eye Makes the Whole World Blind: Poets on 9/11 (Regent Press), Spirited: Affirming the Soul and Black Gay/Lesbian Identity (Redbone Press) and most recently Voices Rising: Celebrating 20 Years of Black Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Writing (Redbone Press). She blogs on dance at InfiniteBody (http://infinitebody.blogspot.com) and hosts the dance podcast, Body and Soul, available through her blog and on iTunes.

Writing on Dance is open to experienced and prospective arts journalists as well as anyone interested in exploring the power of dance and writing. Participation is by application only and there is a $125 registration fee for Dance Theater Workshop members, or $175 for non-members.

To apply, submit a one-page letter (350 word maximum) via email to Estelle Woodward Arnal at estelle@dtw.org by September 5, 2008 detailing why you want to take this course. Please place the letter in the body of the email and include all of your contact information.