Deborah Jowitt "Laid Off" by the Village Voice

Laura Diffenderfer | Apr 07, 2008 | there are 0 comments

After 40 years of service, Village Voice dance critic Deborah Jowitt has recently been "laid off" from the publication which was purchased by the New Times in 2006 (You may remember former Voice dance editor Elizabeth Zimmer's controversial dismissal along with 8 other Voice writers shortly after the merger).

The news of Jowitt's departure is a hard blow to the community. Jowitt, who began writing for the Voice in 1968, has been a champion and faithful chronicler of modern dance since that time.

Jowitt has published a number of wonderful books on dance, most recently a biography of Jerome Robbins. Perhaps she will concentrate her attention to book writing. Apparently, she may continue with the Voice on a freelance basis.

But, this brings me to the question? As papers like the Voice cut dance coverage and criticism, does the form become less relevant in the eye of the public? There are certainly a number of quality dance blogs (many on this site!) but without national media coverage, will the form suffer?

For many, the Voice has been the paper of record for modern dance since its early days when Jill Johnston was writing about a group of choreographers in Greenwich Village--dance makers like Yvonne Rainer, Steve Paxton, and Lucinda Childs--who would change the face of modern dance.

Luckily, those of us who weren't there can look back on Johnston and Jowitt's writings to get a picture of what was going on.

What do you think? How do we keep the conversation about dance going? How do we inform the public about the form we love? What is your favorite place to go for dance reviews?

In the meantime, I would suggest writing to Village Voice Media Executive Editor Michael Lacey to let him know how much dance writing means to all of us.

michael.lacey@villagevoicemedia.com

Also copy Voice Editor Tony Ortega by going to: http://www.villagevoice.com/aboutus/index.php?page=contact