Arts journalism, culture writing, essays

I write about how we move and what moves us.

An open lined notebook containing handwritten phrases, connecting lines, and large asterisks. Much is illegible, but some legible phrases include "free," "funhouse," "reverence," theatrics of sensation," "running," and "the pre-ballet activity."

Notebook containing in-theater notes and post-theater organization overlay.

The Gym

These are my occasional reflections on intersections of practice, community, writing, and the arts, sent in what can be loosely categorized as a newsletter since 2018. You can read the archives or subscribe.

Marking

Slow arts journalism in the form of online essays and physical postcard notifications. An approximately quarterly yearlong experiment. Subscribe to notifications and read the essays at markingit.org.

Sightlines

I wrote just one piece for Sightlines, but it was an important one: The De-choreographed Body: Works by Deborah Hay documented the 2023 homecoming of Hay’s major work to Austin and used it as a jumping-off point for layers of reflection on her influence, our city, and my own work.

The Austin Chronicle

I was a freelance writer for Austin’s independent alt weekly from 2007 to 2018, covering mostly dance: ballet, modern and contemporary dance, bharata natyam, African-derived contemporary dance, folklorico, flamenco, aerial dance, site-specific work, performance, and uncategorizable movement.

I believe that 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:

Austin Chronicle cover showing a black-and-white portrait of a bald woman in profile. The words It All Falls Away cascade down her neck.

Cover image by Todd V. Wolfson.

Austin Chronicle cover showing a group of dancers sitting and hanging on scaffolding, which is lit in purple and blue against a dusky sky. The words Remain in Light are centered on the page.

Cover photo by Sandy Carson.

My author archive includes all 178 reviews, interviews, profiles, and studio visits. From 2007–2017, I served on the Austin Critics Table.

The Bloomsbury Handbook of Dance and Philosophy

My chapter “Movement on Record: Poetry, Presence, Radicalism” is part of this weighty volume instigated by a conference at Texas State University.

Fjord Review

From 2016 to 2018, I was the Austin correspondent for this Toronto, Canada–based international dance publication. My articles and reviews covered Ballet Austin, Fusebox Festival, and the Dance USA conference.

  • In The Talk, I discuss some problems with post-performance panels and point to some innovations and solutions that could make them better.

  • Irreverence, in Coats memorializes the first performance of the acclaimed Frank Wo/Men Collective.

  • Glitter Garden was about the communal beauty that, as Americans, we continue to literally shoot down.

Dance Europe

While a graduate student in Boston, I filed full-page reviews of the Boston Ballet for this London-based glossy magazine. Print only.

Ballet Review

I published an extended interview with Texan Mike McKinley, who toured as Tatiana Youbetyabootskaya with the New York–based drag ballet company Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo in the 1980s. Print only.

Denver Westword

As an arts section stringer for Denver’s alt weekly, I used my Nokia brick phone to chase down facts and quotes for pithy “brites,” calendar highlights, and short features.