Trọng tâm

Thanks to an invitation from Frank Werner, regional head of the cultural programme department at the Goethe Institut in Jakarta, I was delighted to attend the 10th Indonesian Dance Festival (titled “Powering the Future”) in Jakarta to run a review-writing workshop for the Institut in response to four days of exhilarating dance from Indonesia, Taiwan, Japan, Korea and Europe in June 2010.

Amidst the festival hubbub, new cuisine experiences, nerve wracking city traffic and World Cup tensions (after all, our host was a proud and anxious Goethe Institut), the workshop team saw shows, discussed and wrote (late at night or early in the morning), read each other's reviews and shared knowledge and opinions.

The participants

The workshop participants were a fascinating mix: some had professional dance and producing experience, some were already reviewing, running blogs or contributing to magazines and newspapers, others were starting out.

Cat Ruka from New Zealand is a dancer, performance artist and the editor of Yellingmouth, an Auckland-based dance review blog. Melissa Quek from Singapore is a choreographer, a teacher at LASALLE College of the Arts and a freelance dance reviewer for The Business Times. Joelle Jacinto from the Philippines is a dancer and freelance writer with many years of experience. She is editor-in-chief of Runthru, a bi-annual dance magazine and website. Bilqis Hijjas creates, performs, produces, teaches, and writes about contemporary dance in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and runs a residency for choreographers at the private arts centre Rimbun Dahan. Devi Fitria is a Jakarta-based journalist who works for the Indonesian art magazine ARTI and an online history magazine, HISTORIA. San Phalla lives in Phnom Penh, holds degrees in Southeast Asian Studies and archaeology and works as a researcher for Khmer Arts, a Cambodian classical dance company that tours the world. Dang Giang, from Vietnam, is a writer and cultural and social activist.

Parwit Mahasarinand, a theatre lecturer and dance reviewer since 2000 for The Nation English language newspaper in Bangkok, was a very welcome addition to the workshop and delivered a keynote address ("If we write more—Observations on contemporary dance criticism in Asia"). (…)

Increasing attentiveness

The aim of the workshop was to improve the capacity of reviewers to vividly evoke the works they experience for their readers. Good reviewing (whether or not it consciously includes social, political and economic perspectives and passes critical judgment) cannot work effectively without this skill. Openness, strong recall, rich vocabulary, a structured response, the careful delivery of judgment, these were the workshop focus.

I was pleased that all participants willingly and bravely committed themselves to a challenging task—to respond very quickly to new dance works while focusing on writing skills and being subjected to criticism. As you read the reviews posted here (tanzconnexions publishes one text by each participant as well as reviews written on Maybe Forever; for the complete review collection see RealTime, do keep in mind that they were written under pressure and with limited time for editing and polishing. Despite these demands there are fine examples of vivid and thoughtful writing to be found in the 23 reviews that came out of a mere four days of apparently pleasurable labour. It was particularly pleasing to see that the ubiquitous focus on movement techniques in reviewing was complemented by an increased awareness of the importance of music, sound, set design, lighting and the ways in which, in an era of hybridity, various forms mix and meld.  

The cultural translation issue

The festival provided challenges for all of us in the workshop. Many works drew on traditional dance, customs and beliefs, sometimes leaving us guessing as to specific meanings while fascinated with what we seen. It's doubly difficult given that the works are themselves contemporary interpretations or re-workings of traditional forms. Sometimes one of our number had an answer, or we googled one, provisonally, knowing that a dance festival like this can only serve as an introduction to unfamiliar forms. Inevitably we debated the advisability of reviewing works where we lacked cultural understanding—would we misrepresent what we saw or were we encouraging interest and a sense of inquiry?

Other issues discussed included the significance, or not, of English language dance reviewing in Asia, a shortage of good editing, and a certain reviewer caution about being judgmental—verbal opinions were often tougher than those that appeared in print, said a number of participants. (…)

It's hoped that the workshop will further the bringing together of dance artists and writers in the region.


Keith Gallasch
Managing Editor of RealTime, the Australian magazine focused on innovation in the arts around the world, is a writer, performer and dramaturge. Keith has run review writing teams and workshops across Australia and in London, Bristol, Singapore and Vancouver.

This essay is a shortened version of a text published on RealTime together with all the reviews written in the workshop. A selection of these writings has also been published on the tanzconnexions website.

Goethe Institut Indonesia, Regional Dance Critic Workshop, 14-18 June 2010, held during the 10th Indonesian Dance Festival, "Powering the Future", 14-17 June 2010