Sir,
Shame on you Cyprus Mail for letting your normally exacting editorial standards drop so low as to publish the ‘review’ of Dancecyprus by Dara Milovanovic. We are of course all entitled to our personal views, but when these are published under the guise of objective criticism, we should be held to a higher standard.
In almost 20 years of following your reviews of the arts I don’t believe I have seen so gratuitously offensive and factually inaccurate a review of a performance in Cyprus. Let me declare my interest: I am a supporter of Dancecyprus and I attended the full performance in Nicosia. I have also been following the dancers’ progress from their arrival in Lofou village until this, their first performance, and have therefore seen at first hand their extraordinary commitment and enthusiasm. I am no dance critic – but I do know my facts.
Jacqueline Owen is one of 13 Founders of Dancecyprus – why single her out from her distinguished and highly committed colleagues in Cyprus and elsewhere? The dancers were selected by international jury in a widely publicised open competition, so the company was open to anybody of the required standard.
The performances were patently unsuitable for dance students. The dancers are living and working in Lofou village, with the old school as their rehearsal space, no other venue having been offered. They had therefore to adapt with minimal rehearsal to the much larger stage at the Municipal Theatre. The Artistic Director is Antonio, not Andrea; I could go on.
It is a basic convention of review journalism that the reviewer should attend the full performance being reviewed. Having openly admitted to missing Carolina Constantinou’s ‘A Pair of Wings Please’, your reviewer was unable to resist making wholly gratuitous comments about her record as a choreographer, and take a dig at her appearance in the publicity material; how sad! To describe Carolina’s role in Dancecyprus as “a marketing tool” is beneath contempt. The review of ‘Sirens’ puts down every single aspect of the performance, and criticises staging that the choreographer describes as “not a narrative” for having “no narrative”; that’s perceptive reviewing!
What is so depressingly predictable about this review is its barren negativity and inability to see seemingly the slightest positive aspect of what is a ground breaking and adventurous initiative to establish a dance company for Cyprus. The stated aim of Dancecyprus is to provide a permanent, professional company to uplift and entertain our audiences and to inspire dancers and choreographers to believe they have a future in this country.
I see nothing to indicate that this is not being achieved. Dancers in Cyprus can aspire to join a company that performs in Cyprus on a regular basis. Already this has provided an opportunity for one highly talented young Cypriot dancer and a Cypriot dancer/choreographer. Where else does your reviewer’s “permanent body of dancers” come from if someone doesn’t first take the initiative to provide a company that offers the chance for dancers to perform?
Your reviewer goes on to note condescendingly that “Sadly, the audience still offered them ‘bravos’ and a standing ovation”. This included ‘bravos’ for the incorrectly described “nude duet”, the Pas de Deux which seemed to disturb her so much, but which others found graceful and moving. As to the audience reaction, for once the review is absolutely accurate.
Richard Sale,
Monagri
