The Top Ten Reasons I Qualify as a Dance Reviewer
11. Did the Time Warp while hairdresser for a production of The Rocky Horror Show starring John Fleck, one of the NEA Four.
10. Studied at Ted Raden's Dance Studio when I was eleven, all the girls were a foot taller than me; so I've always looked up to dancers.
9. Videographer/editor of the first Dancin' Habit Instructional Videos.
8. Daily Contact-Improv Roughhouse with my (then!) eleven year-old son Jonathan.
7. Take still photos for BHHS Advanced Dance Theater Group web pages.
6. At UCLA's Royce Hall, I was one of the dwindling masochistic few to sit through an entire Kei Ta Kei concert.
5. Performed with Dance Diner at the Hollywood YMCA. (D.D. was composed of four wonderful dancers/choreographers: Naomi Goldberg, who directs The Los Angeles Modern Dance and Ballet; Roxanne Steinberg, who traveled to Japan and now dances butoh with Oguri; The bravely talented, and gone too soon, Dan Albert; and Larry {became Lawrence, now Yehuda} Hyman, who choreographed Bernstein's Candide directed by Gordon Davidson at The Music Center, LA's classiest venue.) Truth be told, I played basketball as part of a humorous, loosely rehearsed, though quite well-received, piece.
4. Performed with Pina Bausch's Tanztheater Wuppertal during their Los Angeles engagement of "Nur Du." I was one of 25 male extras: While topless, we ironed our shirts as the company swirled around us; along with the company, we crawled slowly around a darkened stage; and we polished our shoes (none of which was as easy as it sounds!) We rehearsed for three days, were directed by Pina, herself, and appeared in all four performances. I spoke to dancers about Pina's creative process, the activity backstage was as riveting (sometimes more) as onstage, and after each show we basked in the glow of a standing ovation.
3. At a birthday party, I ate dinner next to and had a meaningful discussion with The Los Angeles Times' Lewis Segal, the dean of So. Calif. dance reviewers. At a later date, he was quite complimentary of my reviews.
2. Twenty + years of Courtship/Marriage to choreographer Janet (Tell It Like It Is) Roston.
And the No. 1 reason I qualify as a dance reviewer:
Everyone's a critic!
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