Panel discussion of Wendy Perron's book
Company:
Steps on Broadway
STEPS BEYOND'S ARTISTS TALK SERIES presents
THROUGH THE EYES OF A DANCER - A DISCUSSION WITH DANCERS WHO WRITE
based on the book Through the Eyes of a Dancer by Wendy Perron
Panel includes Wendy Perron, Siobhan Burke, Mark Dendy, and Sascha Radetsky
Friday February 28 at 8 PM, followed by a reception
Steps on Broadway, 2121 Broadway (at 74th Street) 4th floor
Tickets: $10
Reservations: 212.874.2410 x 27, online at www.stepsnyc.com, or at the Steps front desk
"I've never read a collection like Perron's engrossing Through the Eyes of a Dancer. She reviews
and ponders four decades of developments and enduring values - both in dance and in the life
of her performing-choreographing-writing self......Perron displays an uncanny ability both to view
art works from a distance and to burrow into their hearts."
Deborah Jowitt
Steps Beyond continues its Artists Talk Series with a discussion with and about dancers who write about and critique dance, and how that writing is influenced by being a dancer. The event is inspired by the new book Through the Eyes of a Dancer by Wendy Perron, a former dancer, choreographer, and teacher; Editor-in-Chief of Dance Magazine from 2004 to 2013; and now an editor-at-large. Joining the author for a lively discussion are a trio who also have extensive experience in both writing and performing: Siobhan Burke, dance critic for The New York Times; noted choreographer Mark Dendy, and Sascha Radetsky, a soloist with American Ballet Theatre. Following the discussion, as always, the evening will open to questions and remarks from audience members. Friday February 28, 8 PM, followed by a reception, at Steps on Broadway, 2121 Broadway, 4th floor.
The panelists joining Ms. Perron all have extensive backgrounds in both performing and writing:
Siobhan Burke, a 2013 USC Annenberg/Getty Arts Journalism Fellow, danced with several groups including the 2005 tour of Riverdance. As a writer she was Associate Editor at Dance Magazine from 2008 to 2013, has written for the Brooklyn Rail, Pointe Magazine, Journal of American Studies, and is currently a dance critic for The New York Times;
Sascha Radetsky, a soloist with American Ballet Theatre and actor in films and on TV, has written articles on dance that have appeared in Newsweek, Dance Magazine, Dance Spirit, and World Arts Today;
Mark Dendy, noted choreographer for his own company and many others, including the Metropolitan Opera, has written for Dance Magazine and Ballet Review. He also writes plays and text that accompany some of his dance works.
The compilation of Perron writings in her new book is drawn from her pieces for the SoHo Weekly News, Village Voice, The New York Times, and Dance Magazine, in which she surveys a wide range of styles and genres, from downtown experimental performance to ballets at the Metropolitan Opera House. In her opinion pieces, interviews, reviews, brief memoirs, blog posts, and contemplations on the choreographic process, Perron gives readers an up-close, personalized look at dancing as an art form.
Writer Jennifer Edwards found that "her (Perron's) pieces took me on a journey, filling in the gaps of my own understanding about dance from the perspective of a woman who was both an insider and an outsider, simultaneously knowing and questioning. Perron includes writing on downtown dance in the 60s and 70s, interviews with visionaries like Susan Sontag, essays on people, including Katherine Dunham, Yvonne Rainer and Miguel Gutierrez, and topics like blogging about choreography." (Huffpost Arts & Culture, December 5, 2013).
Steps Beyond is the performance and special events division of STEPS ON BROADWAY. Steps Beyond embodies the philosophy that Steps on Broadway is a studio for professionals and for dancers training to be professionals. Its mission is to connect dancers with the wider artistic community by providing opportunities to translate and interpret their daily dance training into performance, and to gain access to people working in the industry. Performance opportunities include the REVERBDANCE Festival, Celebration Dance/The Faculty in Performance, and various other dance and music concerts. The Artists Talk Series and Film Nights @Steps on Broadway offer discussions with dance, music, and theater industry experts.
