Arlene Louise Croce (born May 5, 1934) founded ''
Ballet Review'' magazine in 1965. She was a dance critic for ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' magazine from 1973 to 1998.
Career
Prior to Croce's long career as a dance writer, she also wrote film criticism for ''
Film Culture
''Film Culture'' was an American film magazine started by Adolfas Mekas and his brother Jonas Mekas in 1954. The publication's headquarters were in New York City. Best known for exploring the avant-garde cinema in depth, it also published artic ...
'' and other magazines. The keynote of her criticism can be grasped from her ability to evoke kinesthetic movement and expressive images in her writing. Although she considers ballet to epitomize the highest form of dance, she has also written extensively on the topic of popular and filmed dance, and is a recognized authority on the
Astaire and
Rogers Rogers may refer to:
Places
Canada
*Rogers Pass (British Columbia)
* Rogers Island (Nunavut)
United States
* Rogers, Arkansas, a city
* Rogers, alternate name of Muroc, California, a former settlement
* Rogers, Indiana, an unincorporated communit ...
musical films.
In 1994, she courted controversy with her stance on
Bill T. Jones's ''
Still/Here'', a work about terminal illness. In an article called "Discussing the Undiscussable,"
she dubbed the work "victim art" and refused to attend any performances, claiming that it was "unreviewable." The article was reprinted in her 2000 book, ''Writing in the Dark''.
Her writings on dance are available in several books, and a sampling of her film criticism can be found in the anthology ''American Movie Critics:'' ''An Anthology From the Silents Until Now''. A review of her ''The Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers Book'' can be found in
Pauline Kael
Pauline Kael (; June 19, 1919 – September 3, 2001) was an American film critic who wrote for ''The New Yorker'' magazine from 1968 to 1991. Known for her "witty, biting, highly opinionated and sharply focused" reviews, Kael's opinions oft ...
's collection of movie reviews, ''
Reeling''.
Bibliography
''Incomplete - to be updated''
Books
*''The Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers Book'' (1972)
*''Afterimages'' (1978)
*''Going to the Dance'' (1982)
*''Sight Lines'' (1987)
*''Writing in the Dark, Dancing in 'The New Yorker (2000)
*''American Movie Critics: An Anthology From the Silents Until Now'' (2006), edited by
Phillip Lopate
Phillip Lopate (born 1943) is an American film critic, essayist, fiction writer, poet, and teacher. He is the younger brother of radio host Leonard Lopate.
Early life
Phillip Lopate was born in Brooklyn, New York. He graduated with a BA deg ...
— contains her reviews on the films
Pather Panchali and
Aparajito as well as a selection from ''The Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers Book''.
Articles
* Gail Conrad and The Tap Dance Theatre;
American Ballet Theatre's performance of ''Field, Chair and Mountain'' by
David Gordon.
* About Arlene Croce (in Spanish)
La crítica en la danza. "Discussing the indiscussable". By Patricia Roldán* ''The Dance Criticism of Arlene Croce'' (2005) by Marc Raymond Strauss, McFarland & Co,
References
External links
*
1934 births
Living people
American dance critics
The New Yorker people
Dance writers
American women journalists
American women critics
20th-century American journalists
20th-century American women
21st-century American women
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