Our recent collaboration for 2010 Source Festival "A Great (er) Depression" brought many comments about how the movement successfully supported what the character was feeling as well as saying.
“Jane – Loved the piece you put together with Matt and Brad. Everything worked so well together. I mentioned to Matt that the choreography really blended so well to create that effect that we were in his characters mind. The dancers on the table in front of him, as if he’s projecting his internal anguish. The dancers shaking hands and grinning behind him, as if he senses the rest of the world moving forward and succeeding reinforced the fact that his character continued to do deeper within himself. Loved also the incorporation of the file boxes. So much good stuff. Look forward to seeing more of your work.” – Dan O’Neil, 2010 Source Festival attendee
A critic (a dance professor at GMU) wrote that the movement was distracting because it was not "acted out." More weight was given to the written word, assuming that the words have higher priority, that the staging was absolutely not connected to the dialogue.
This brought up the questions: Why should text be primary? Can more than one thing happen on stage at a time?
These questions have already been answered in dance history - especially with post modern choreographers and with Merce Cunningham.
In a previous article in the same blog, there was a long article about how the dance community lacks internal support and nurture.
This might be a place to start; that dance writers and professionals acknowledge other work with an open mind; and write about the content of the work rather than personal preferences.
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