Critiques

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To criticize is to point out the good points and the bad points of a situation or idea. To be a "critic" is not simply to be negative; a good critical analysis must deal with both sides of the issue. (Sebranek et al., 1992, p. 211).

Read this critique of a dance performance before you come to class.
Sollee, Jessica. 1991. "Jim Self s Lookout" . In Clegg and Wheeler (eds.), Students Writing Across the Disciplines. (618-619)

Introduction Jim Self's latest work "Lookout" was performed at the Dance Theater Workshop's Bessie
 Schonberg Theater on February 18, 19, and 22. Jim Self, a former member of the Merce Cunningham Company, performed the self-choreographed dance in solo. "Lookout" is made up of five sections entitled "Les Egouts de Paris," "Goose on a Sidewalk," "TheVision of Guy," "A Shoebox Edge," and " A Mean Cat and a High Line." The dance is at first quite intriguing and unusual but loses its interesting quality by unnecessary repetition and fragmented movement themes. Self saves his dance from total failure by his exceptional performance abilities as a dancer. He maintains a constant level of deep concentration and executes difficult moves with agility and ease. Overall, however, Self's work is unsuccessful because he does not communicate his ideas clearly enough to the audience. Much of the dance seems to be a bizarre display of idiosyncratic movements which lack continuity, fluidity, and meaning.
Summary           In the first section of the dance, Self is dressed in black and wears a pair of large fisherman rubber boots which squeak with each step he takes. In silence Self maintains a slow sustained quality in his movements that are occasionally interspersed by sudden sharp gestures with his arms and head. At times, Self creates strange animalistic sounds with his voice. He repeats the same series of  movements horizontally as well as to the diagonals of the stage. The section drags on for a lengthy period of time and the repetition is useless and destructive to the dance.

Summar               In the second section the use of props, jazz music by Bruce Leiberman, and story written by Richard Elovich and read aloud all add rich flavours to the dance. The props used were four large triangular shapes filled with either oranges, bread, water, or sand. The story was the major focus in this scene. The story is written in monologue form and is narrated by two off-stage male voices. The main character is a man who is involved in an affair with a married woman named Lucy. Just as the story becomes interesting it takes on a fragmented repetitive style similar to that of Self's movement pattern in the first section. The tale is read in an undramatic child-like manner that simplifies a complicated human experience. Like the dance, it completely lacks emotion and has no ending. At the climax of the dance a phrase from the story is repeated and accompanied by music. Self adapts a movement theme to fit the present rhythmic phrase. Although the unified rhythmic phrases work well together, they are repeated several times and, like much of the dance lose their initial dynamic quality.

 The only key to understanding this dance can be found in this one sentence description presented in the program: "A man watching television tries to sort out the mistaken identities of two intruders." Self in no way helps the audience to comprehend his ideas. In fact he makes the task quite difficult. By combining this one-sentence description with the dance one can be led to believe that Self is making a statement about the ill effects of television. The dance seems to show how television portrays the complicated situation of human life as entertaining and simplistic. Which, in turn, transforms the audience into emotionless, passive recipients of life.

Conclusion          Whether Self is working purely on the intellectual level or is trying to fit into the 'dance nouveau' (experimental dance), he falls short of his attempt. For while he vigorously strives to satisfy his personal goals as a choreographer, he loses sight of his audience, often leaving them dangling in confusion.
Lecture:

1. Definition of Critique
2. Purpose "summarise the content and present a subjective opinion"
3. Basic Structure
INTRODUCTION
* establish the context
* clarify the subject
* establish your critical point of view (positive, negative, concession)

SUMMARY
*      short & succinct

            CRITIQUE
            CONCLUSION

Table: 1 Special Features

Descriptive adjectives	informative/interesting/succinct/ original/lifeless
Subjective Verbs	feel, agree, accept
First Person	I, me
Present Tense	The dance is

Topics to Write About:
* importance of subject matter (central to the field)
* timeliness (current interest)
* length 
* objectivity of the author
* interpretation of the data
*  thoroughness of treatment of subject matter
* practicality of the suggestions
* other expert opinion
* personal interest