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Deborah Jowitt is an American dance critic, author, and choreographer. Her career in dance began as a performer and choreographer. Jowitt has received several awards for her work, including a Bessie (New York Dance and Performance Award) for her work in dance criticism.[1]

Early life

Jowitt was born in 1934,[2] hailing from California.[3]

Career

Beginning in 1967, she wrote a weekly dance column for The Village Voice, providing frequent reviews of dance performances in New York City.[3] From some time in the 1970s until 1994, the Voice had a page and a half for dance coverage: Jowitt contributed 1600 words or a full page of this, week after week, plus occasional features. Collections of her reviews from the Voice and numerous other publications have appeared as books – Dance Beat: Selected Views and Reviews, 1967–1976[4] and The Dance in Mind: Profiles and Reviews 1976–1983.[5]

In 2007, Jowitt's column in the Village Voice was increased in length to 3/4 page, having been earlier reduced to a half-page; in 2008, her position as dance critic was converted from full-time to freelance. However, Jowitt continued to write 3/4 page reviews for the Voice until 2011.[6][7] She was a faculty member at the New York University Tisch School of the Arts.[8][9]

Her biography of the dancer Martha Graham, Errand into the Maze, was published in 2024.[10][11] Jowitt took the title from Graham's 1947 ballet of the same name.

Awards

References

  1. ^ "Deborah Jowitt". Simon & Schuster. Retrieved May 1, 2024.
  2. ^ Theodores, Diana (October 15, 2013). First We Take Manhattan: Four American Women and the New York School of Dance Criticism. Taylor & Francis. p. 1. ISBN 9781134375783. Retrieved May 1, 2024.
  3. ^ a b Macaulay, Alastair (March 12, 2019). "She's Been Writing About Dance for 55 Years. She's Not Done Yet". The New York Times. Retrieved May 1, 2024.
  4. ^ Jowitt, Deborah (1977). Dance Beat: Selected Views and Reviews, 1967–1976. New York: Marcel Dekker. ISBN 9780824765064.
  5. ^ Jowitt, Deborah (1985). The Dance in Mind: Profiles and Reviews 1976–1983. Boston: David R. Godine. ISBN 9780879235345.
  6. ^ "The Village Voice Author: Deborah Jowitt". Archived from the original on November 18, 2011.
  7. ^ Macaulay, Alastair (March 12, 2019). "She's Been Writing About Dance for 55 Years. She's Not Done Yet". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 12, 2024.
  8. ^ "Faculty Directory: Deborah Jowitt". Tisch. Archived from the original on January 21, 2005.
  9. ^ "Deborah Jowitt | American Academy of Arts and Sciences". www.amacad.org. July 2, 2024. Retrieved July 12, 2024.
  10. ^ Jowitt, Deborah (2024). Errand into the Maze: The Life and Works of Martha Graham. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 9780374709143.
  11. ^ Jacobs, Alexandra (January 28, 2024). "A New Martha Graham Biography Is a Study in Grace and Balance". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 12, 2024.
  12. ^ a b "de la Torre Bueno Prize awards 1973-2001". Archived from the original on August 7, 2012. Retrieved May 2, 2024.
  13. ^ McKechnie, Alex (September 10, 2012). "What Makes A Masterpiece? Renowned Dance Critic Will Discuss at Drexel". Drexel University. Retrieved May 2, 2024.
  14. ^ "The de la Torre Bueno Prize". DanceStudiesAssociation.org. April 20, 2021. Archived from the original on February 26, 2021. Retrieved May 2, 2024.
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