National Ballet Critics?

[Barnes2]

 

We still have National newspapers, and it is to be assumed, therefore, that our Arts critics serve the Arts of the United Kingdom. But we all know that this is simply not true. Look each weekend at the lists of the forthcoming major Arts events of the Spring, Autumn, or just the next week, and count the number of events outside London which are deemed worthy of mention. Very little outside the M25 will appear. When it comes to Dance the M25 becomes an Iron Curtain.

 

In last Saturday's Telegraph, looking forward to the week ahead, the Arts Editor and Dance Critic, Mark Monahan, for whose artistic judgement I have considerable respect, mentioned forthcoming performances at Sadler's Wells by Birmingham Royal Ballet, a Company for which I have great affection. He referred to the new ballet by Didy Veldman and said that it would be interesting to see if David Bintley's "Hobson's Choice" would hold up to our memories of it.(It did, and more!) At this point I confess that I saw red. The World Premiere of the Veldman piece had happened already in Birmingham to considerable acclaim and "Hobson's Choice" had been performed to very enthusiastic audiences the following week. But you see, Dear Reader, to a critic, if it ain't in London it ain't happened, and it apparently ain't  worth reviewing. I am not aware of a single national press review of any performances of the World Premiere ballet, or the important revival. In fact I do not think I can remember any critic of a major newspaper being seen in Birmingham for any performances, however important, for several years. Even less likely are they to watch the Company on tour. No doubt the response will be that the critics will be at the Sadlers Wells performances, but we know that the reviews are unlikely to appear before the season is over, and even if they are, as they deserve to be, enthusiastic, this is small compensation to the Company facing thin houses in London, partly, at least, because of the total failure of Critics to go to Birmingham and report on ballets and performances in time for the London season. And you would really have thought that, at this special time in the History of BRB , an effort could have been made. But of course not.

 

Just in case it is assumed that these are the views of one disgruntled and untutored provincial, may I point out that I have been going regularly to ballet for 60 years, that I live in London, that I go regularly to the Opera House and other venues and that my views are shared by others, Londoners not least, who frequently go to BRB and other Companies' performances  throughout the Country;  something which seems strangely beyond the ability of critics.

 

The next line of defence will be to argue that the general cut-back on Arts coverage in the National Press inhibits the ability of critics to cover as much as they might like. There is obviously some truth in this. But the problem with this argument is that the excellent chief drama critic of the Telegraph, for example, manages to cover new plays and revivals throughout England and Wales, and, unfortunately, dance critics seem to think that it is an imposition to expect them to travel outside London, especially to Birmingham, to review anything. It is a question of attitude as much as of money.

 

One would hope that critics would wish to see Dance flourish throughout the Country,  and that they would make an effort to serve the art they claim to love, wherever it happens,  but the reality is that they care for very little outside London. 

 

I do not think that it  would not be an exaggeration to say that the majority of Dance critics are held in something approaching contempt by the ballet audience outside London. That audience is knowledgeable, perceptive and loyal., as the critics might find out for themselves if they could summon up the courage, to face the deserts, jungles, mountains and raging torrents that we must admit, in all fairness, form such a formidable obstacle to spending all of 80 minutes on a train to Birmingham, or other excellent centres of dance, so largely ignored by those who have the gall to call themselves national dance critics.

[Tony Newcombe]

Spot on. I enjoy telling the story of two critics I overheard at the premier of the Bintley/Samsova production of Giselle at the old Birmingham Hippodrome. Nothing but moans about having to travel to Birmingham to report on the event. Wonder if there will be any national critics at the Hippodrome to report on the same ballet when it opens in the autumn in Birmingham

 

Edited June 24, 2019 by Tony Newcombe
Typo

[Lizbie1]

I sound like a stuck record, but the same goes for The Times: excellent national coverage of theatre and opera; near silence about BRB.

[alison]

Is it the critics who are at fault here, or their arts editors (or higher)?  Another thing to be considered is whether the critics have constraints on their ability to travel outside London - I have no information on their personal lives, but I suppose it might be true in the odd case.

[Lizbie1]

4 minutes ago, alison said:

Is it the critics who are at fault here, or their arts editors (or higher)?  Another thing to be considered is whether the critics have constraints on their ability to travel outside London - I have no information on their personal lives, but I suppose it might be true in the odd case.

 

But the point is that there’s a clear inconsistency between coverage of opera/theatre and ballet outside London in both the Telegraph and The Times. I can’t think of a reason for this being so, other than decisions being made by the individuals concerned.

 

As for the “personal circumstances” excuse: surely it’s the arts editor’s job to manage that? (Indeed, The Times sometimes dispatches Donald Hutera to cover the regions.)

[Lizbie1]

Oh, another thing! Birmingham is hardly the other end of the country: it’s ninety minutes from Euston - easy to fit in a matinee without incurring a late night or overnight stay.

 

(Not trying to teach anyone to suck eggs, I’m just saying how easy it should be for a London based critic to provide coverage.)

[Angela]

You need to ask where the arts editor comes from - normally, they are opera/classical music or drama/theatre critics, never ever dance critics. Of course they prefer their own genre to the genres they don't know so well: for a theatre critic, plays are the most important thing. You need to ask if the opera and theatre critics are permanently employed or freelancers - most dance critics are freelancers. Of course there will be money to send the editors traveling, not so much for the freelancers. You need to ask who pays the travel costs, the newspaper or the critic himself. If the dance critics start paying their own travel costs, there will be nothing left to earn. You start to do it for some important show, because you believe in what you do, but at a certain point you just can't afford it any more. 

I am speaking from a German point of view, where it is exactly the same - in most local newspapers, you can read opera and theatre reviews from all over Germany, but no dance reviews from outside of their hometown. Even most big national newspapers have axed the dance much more than opera and theatre. It's a slow process, but I keep thinking that the dance section is just the beginning. Sometimes I find more reviews for Netflix series in my newspaper than for live theatre.

 

[Jan McNulty]

1 hour ago, Lizbie1 said:

Oh, another thing! Birmingham is hardly the other end of the country: it’s ninety minutes from Euston - easy to fit in a matinee without incurring a late night or overnight stay.

 

(Not trying to teach anyone to suck eggs, I’m just saying how easy it should be for a London based critic to provide coverage.)

 

For some years both Birmingham Royal Ballet and Northern Ballet scheduled first cast for the midweek matinees to facilitate the dance critics seeing performances on a day trip...

[ismeneb]

As a former national dance critic I can help you with better information. Since the slashing of payment rates and writing opportunities to dedicated arts critics about a decade ago some of the critics you complain about as neglecting regions are already in senior jobs full time and have very little time between the end of work and show time. Hence only London is possible except on rare occasions. This was a deliberate policy to cut budgets, and dance coverage took a hit not shared by theatre. In the past I and some other dance critics routinely covered the whole country by train, car or even plane in the case of Belfast or Glasgow, our travel costs paid by our papers. The change is regrettable for readers, yes, and serious for the art form, yes, but these hardworking critics do not deserve your attacks. 

Edited June 24, 2019 by ismeneb

[Jan McNulty]

Thanks for the clarification Ismene.

[Tony Newcombe]

33 minutes ago, ismeneb said:

As a former national dance critic I can help you with better information. Since the slashing of payment rates and writing opportunities to dedicated arts critics about a decade ago some of the critics you complain about as neglecting regions are already in senior jobs full time and have very little time between the end of work and show time. Hence only London is possible except on rare occasions. This was a deliberate policy to cut budgets, and dance coverage took a hit not shared by theatre. In the past I and some other dance critics routinely covered the whole country by train, car or even plane in the case of Belfast or Glasgow, our travel costs paid by our papers. The change is regrettable for readers, yes, and serious for the art form, yes, but these hardworking critics do not deserve your attacks. 

Very valid points Ismene, but I was still very disappointed with the comments I overheard at that premier of Giselle all those years ago.