Alan M. Kriegsman (February 28, 1928 – August 31, 2012) was an American dance critic. He won the 1976 Pulitzer Prize for his work at ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', the first to win the

Pulitzer Prize for Criticism The Pulitzer Prize for Criticism has been presented since 1970 to a newspaper writer in the United States who has demonstrated 'distinguished criticism'. Recipients of the award are chosen by an independent board and officially administered by C ...

for reporting as a dance critic.Kaufman, Sarah
"2010 Pulitzer Prize: Sarah Kaufman on winning criticism, role of arts coverage"
''

'', April 14, 2010. Accessed July 3, 2010. Kriegsman was born in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, and grew up in

Far Rockaway, Queens Far Rockaway is a neighborhood on the eastern part of the Rockaway peninsula in the New York City borough of Queens. It is the easternmost section of the Rockaways. The neighborhood extends from Beach 32nd Street east to the Nassau County line ...

, graduating from

Far Rockaway High School Far Rockaway High School was a public high school in New York City, at 821 Bay 25th Street in Far Rockaway in the borough of Queens. It operated from 1897 to 2011. Its alumni include three Nobel Prize laureates and convicted fraudster Bernard M ...

in 1945. He attended the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

and earned a

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

and

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

musicology Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some mu ...

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, where he also completed doctoral coursework. He served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

from 1946 to 1947. He attended the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...

in 1956 and 1957 as a Fulbright scholar.Brennan, Elizabeth A.; and Clarage, Elizabeth C
"Who's Who of Pulitzer Prize winners"
p. 83.

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, 1999. . He married the former Sali Ann Ribakove in 1957. He taught at Columbia University,

Barnard College Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Columbia ...

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , preside ...

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also admi ...

, the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most el ...

and

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then called Ba ...

. From 1960 to 1965, he was a music, drama, and dance critic for the

San Diego Union ''The San Diego Union-Tribune'' is a metropolitan daily newspaper published in San Diego, California, that has run since 1868. Its name derives from a 1992 merger between the two major daily newspapers at the time, ''The San Diego Union'' and ...

. He returned to New York City, where he was assistant to the president of the Juilliard School in 1965 and 1966. He became a music and performing arts critic and columnist for ''The Washington Post'' starting in 1966 and was its dance critic from 1974 to his retirement in 1996. While with ''

'', Kriegsman won the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 1976, the first to receive the award for work in the dance field. After he retired in 1996, he was succeeded by

Sarah Kaufman Sarah Elizabeth Kaufman (born September 20, 1985) is a retired Canadian mixed martial artist (MMA). She competed in the women's bantamweight division where she is a former Invicta FC Bantamweight Championship. Kaufman was the inaugural Strike ...

as dance critic, who would go on to win the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for her dance criticism. Kaufman, in a question and answer session in ''The Washington Post,'' credited Kriegsman as her "hero, friend and mentor" Kriegsman died on August 31, 2012, at his home in

Chevy Chase, Maryland Chevy Chase () is the name of both a town and an unincorporated census-designated place (Chevy Chase (CDP), Maryland) that straddle the northwest border of Washington, D.C. and Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. Several settlements in th ...

, at age 84.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kriegsman, Alan M. 1928 births 2012 deaths American dance critics American male journalists Columbia University alumni Far Rockaway High School alumni Hunter College faculty George Washington University faculty Juilliard School faculty Temple University faculty Columbia University faculty University of California, San Diego faculty Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni People from Brooklyn People from Far Rockaway, Queens Pulitzer Prize for Criticism winners University of Vienna alumni The Washington Post journalists People from Chevy Chase, Maryland Journalists from New York City Barnard College faculty