Apollinaire Scherr responds

Dance critic Apollinaire Scherr responds to my criticism (here) of dance criticism:

In defense of Macaulay and me, a couple of thoughts: I do think there’s
a difference between Croce’s not going at all (though if it were the
time and I had the time, I would defend that action, given her reasons)
and Macaulay not watching the bulk of these two dance competition
shows.

Don’t TV critics, even, review a show after having watched only
the pilot and a few shows in? I don’t think a critic is obliged to
watch every show to weigh in on the gist of it. Of course there are
going to be exceptions to the general rule of terrible choreography
that makes even good dancers dreadful, but that’s not his or my point.
And haven’t you walked into a gallery, given a good look at a few
paintings/installations/videos and then scanned the rest? I mean, do
you study every single inch of canvass to give it the benefit of the
doubt?

I think Macaulay is very careful, in all of his reviews, to
report exactly how much he has seen and not seen. Probably other
critics wouldn’t even mention it if they hadn’t seen every single show.

As for the whole high/low distinction, I agree that dance critics–or
rather, ballet critics–can be snobs. On the other hand, we’ve reached
a point in the culture where to condemn a popular and populist art is
suspect from the get-go. I think it’s refreshing, not tiresome, that he
would dare do it in the Times.

Also, how often do art critics even
bother with this kind of commercial work: say, Thomas Kinkade? Let me
know what you think when they do. Sure, Dave Hickey has done Rockwell,
but that’s so far after the fact, it hardly counts.

Finally, this video
above: I agree he’s a fine dancer–particularly his hips and
footwork–but the choreography and the way it works with its music
doesn’t allow him to be musical. Every one of his phrases ends with the
same sort of ta-da, and the feel of the music runs exactly counter to
the spirit of the dancing. It’s a ludicrous piece, and that’s the
problem with So You Think You Can Dance –the show reduces even the
best dancers to dreck. ~Apollinaire