Arts journalism
I write about humans who make art, dance, perform, write, and look.
I’m a believer in the newsworthiness of the arts. The arts beat—the chronicle of cultural sidenotes, expressions, and nonliteral ideas—is as essential to our democracy as any other beat. A handful of cases in point:
Aztlan Dance Company's The Enchilada Western: Texas Deep Fried in the Austin Chronicle
Fusebox Festival Review: (Re)current Unrest in the Austin Chronicle
Review: Glacier in the Austin Chronicle
Irreverence, in Coats in the Fjord Review
Glitter Garden in the Fjord Review
The Gym, my pseudo-monthly email letter on arts practice, criticism, community, and engagement
As a former dancer, I'm interested in artists' daily dedications and practices, and the relationship between those and their work.
Affiliations
Austin Chronicle, arts contributor, 2007–2018
Fjord Review, contributor, 2016–present
Dance Europe, Boston correspondent, 2004–2006
Westword, arts contributor, 2003–2004
Sentinel/Transcript Newspaper Group, arts correspondent, 2003–2004
I've also written for AdobeAirstream, Ballet Review, Dancemagazine.com, and Elevate Difference, and I served on the Austin Critics Table from 2008 to 2018.
Writing on arts writing
The Gym (2018–present) is a series of letters exploring the intersections of physical practice and critical presence.
In my essay “The Talk,” I discuss some problems with post-performance panels and point to some innovations and solutions that could make them better.
My chapter “Movement on Record: Poetry, Presence, Radicalism” will be published in The Bloomsbury Handbook of Dance and Philosophy (January 2021).