HQ Review: An Introduction
There have been three concepts on my mind since St. Louis Dance HQ approached me to write the introductory entry for its “HQ REVIEW” series. The goal of this series is to provide a forum for discussion of the work being made in St. Louis. We hope for it to be a place where audience members and artists can find relevant information on the types of work being made, while also supplementing their experiences with the ideas of others. St. Louis Dance HQ Reviews will be a digital platform for dance to be documented and discussed in a manner that isn’t merely for the sake of archival, but also for the betterment of our small but mighty St. Louis dance community. With that, I’d like to quickly discuss the role of criticism, promotion, and perspective in our HQ REVIEW series.
The discussion of dance in writing—otherwise known as criticism—is an attempt to provide depth and color to the conversations that take place between the work and its context. Great art possesses a great magnetism. The work holds the audience, the world, and other artistic works in a tension that can be attractive, repellent, world-changing, or simply decorative. At St. Louis Dance HQ, we do not believe that criticism is a judgment of quality, but rather a parsing of how the work affects us, and how we affect the work. We will at times push to fight through the tension, but artists reading our reviews should know that we recognize any mischaracterization or accidental slight can be devastating. Negative reviews will never be our intention, and while we may see things differently than intended, we hold you and the dances you create in the highest regard.
This brings us to perspective. At the time of writing this, I am one of only a handful of writers on this team. I like to think I know something about dance, but I certainly don’t know everything. The world is as strange as it is vast, and my role in it is infinitesimal and rather plain if I’m honest. Reviews should not be considered authoritative in any respect. If you chose to disregard this advice, you do so at your own peril! Reviews may often be wrong.
Lastly, a word about promotion. Everyone has preferences and their own favorite companies, choreographers, dancers, and styles of movement—we are human after all—but, we will do our best to review as many St. Louis concerts as we can. St. Louis Dance HQ aims to promote the St. Louis dance community at large, without favor towards any individual entity. From the perspective of this writer, my ability to review a company’s concert is directly related to how much time I have on a given weekend. Any omissions made or patterns that emerge should not be considered an endorsement or a critique in and of itself. All that to say, as a reader and dance lover, go to the show yourself, see the work, and tell everybody you know about all the amazing things St. Louis’ dance community has to offer.
Interested in writing for St. Louis Dance Headquarters? Email us at stlouisdancehq@gmail.com