Deborah Jowitt

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Deborah Jowitt is an American dance critic, author, and choreographer. Her career in dance began as a performer and choreographer. Jowitt has received several awards for her work, including a Bessie (New York Dance and Performance Award) for her work in dance criticism.

Beginning in 1967, she wrote a weekly dance column for the Village Voice, providing frequent reviews of dance performances in New York City. From some time in the 70s til 1994, the Voice had a page and a half for dance coverage: Jowitt contributed 1600 words or a full page of this, week after week, plus occasional features. Collections of her reviews from the Voice and numerous other publications have appeared as books - Dance Beat: Views and Reviews, New York: Marcel Dekker, 1977 and The Dance in Mind: Profiles and Reviews, 1976-1983, Boston: David R. Godine, 1985.

By 2008, dance coverage in the Voice had been reduced to less than a half-page, comprising capsule reviews by a number of freelance contributors and a longer review (less than 450 words) by Jowitt.

In late March 2008, after 40 years as a dance critic for the Village Voice, Jowitt was "let go" [1] ie fired from her position as chief dance critic -- though encouraged to continue to contribute as a freelance writer.

She is currently a faculty member at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University (NYU).

[edit] Awards

In 2005, Jowitt received a special citation from the Society of Dance History Scholars (SDHS) for Jerome Robbins: His Life, His Theater, His Dance.
In 2001, Jowitt received the "Outstanding Contribution to Dance Research" award from Congress on Research in Dance (CORD).
In 1988, Jowitt received the de la Torre Bueno Prize for the best book in the field of dance studies for Time and the Dancing Image.
In 1985, Jowitt received a special citation from the SDHS for The Dance in Mind.