Oxford Dance Writers

Dance Writers of the Future 2014

“The ability to see movement clearly and to describe it evocatively is a rare and wonderful gift.”   Roger Copeland

Calling all young writers – an exciting opportunity to write about dance and win some great prizes!

prFollowing previous successful Dance Writers of the Future competitions in 2009 and 2012, Oxford Dance Writers announces a third competition to find talented young writers on dance.  This year’s competition supported by Dancin’ Oxford 2014, covers not only the Festival itself but other dance events, activities and performances occurring in Oxford over February and March, providing multiple opportunities for young writers to show their abilities in reviews and reflections on the dance they see.

·      Entrants are asked to submit a piece of original critical writing about a dance event taking place in Oxford between 1^st February and 20^th March 2014.  This could be a review of a performance, an account of a workshop experienced, discussion of a talk or presentation etc.

·      Length to be approximately 400 words.

·      Entries to be sent to Susie Crow of Oxford Dance Writers either by email, or hard copy by mail – see contact details below.  Please include with your entry your full contact details, including postal address, telephone and email, also date of birth.  Incomplete submissions cannot be accepted.

·      Deadline for submissions 5.00pm Monday 24^th March 2014.

·      A panel of experienced professionals will judge entries and select winners in two categories; 16 years and under, 17-22 years.  Winners to be announced by Wednesday 9^th April 2014.

·      2014 judges: Donald Hutera, Arts Journalist (The Times, Time Out, Dance Europe), David Bellan, Dance Critic of Oxford Times, Penny Cullerne-Bown, BA MPhil Oxon and Principal of East Oxford School of Ballet, and Susie Crow of Ballet in Small Spaces and Oxford Dance Writers.

·      Prizes will include pairs of tickets for forthcoming dance performances in Oxford including Fabulous Beast at Oxford Playhouse, Riverdance and Dance Til Dawn starring Vincent Simone and Flavia Cacace at the New Theatre, as well as a year’s joint subscription to Dancing Times and Dance Today.

·      A selection of entries including the winners will be published online on the Oxford Dance Writers website, and the competition will be publicised in Oxford Times and nationally through Dancing Times who will publish the two winning entries online.

Guidelines for writers:

“Good dance criticism is a multi-faceted endeavour.  It involves – at a minimum – description, interpretation and value judgement.”    Roger Copeland

The judges will be looking for:

·   Flair, imaginative response

·      Evidence of some informed understanding

·      Specific detail and useful information

·      Quality of written English

See below for a list of dance performances on in Oxford during the competition period.  Check the home page of Oxford Dance Writers for updates and further information:

http://oxforddancewriters.co.uk

For the full Dancin’ Oxford 2014 programme:

http://www.dancinoxford.co.uk

To submit entries post to:

Susie Crow, Oxford Dance Writers

28 Victoria Road, Oxford OX2 7QD

Or email:  http://susiecrow@gmail.com

Dance Writers of the Future 2014 is supported by Dancin’ Oxford, Dancing Times, New Theatre Oxford and Oxford Playhouse.

Oxford Dance Writers gratefully acknowledges support from Oxford Dance Forum for activities in 2014.

Dance Performances in Oxford, 1^st February to 20^th March 2014

Saturday 1^st February: Tac-au-Tac presents The Storm, Pegasus Theatre

Sunday 2^nd February: Tac-au-Tac presents The Storm, Pegasus Theatre

Sunday 2^nd February: Bolshoi Ballet in Lost Illusions, Phoenix Picturehouse

Friday 7^th February: Balletboyz, New Theatre

Monday 10^th February: Russian State Ballet of Siberia in Swan Lake, New Theatre

Tuesday 11^th February: Russian State Ballet of Siberia in Swan Lake, New Theatre

Wednesday 12^th February: Russian State Ballet of Siberia in The Sleeping Beauty, New Theatre

Friday 14^th February: Brendan Cole’s License to Thrill, New Theatre

Friday 28^th February: Moving with the Times Dance Platform, Pegasus Theatre

Saturday 1^st March: Dancin’ Oxford Festival Launch, Oxford City Centre

Saturday 1^st March: Moving with the Times Dance Platform, Pegasus Theatre

Monday 3^rd March: Liv Lorent’s The Night Ball, Oxford Town Hall

Tuesday 4^th March: Liv Lorent’s The Night Ball, Oxford Town Hall

Wednesday 5^th March: Joe Lott Dance in Alpha, Pegasus Theatre

Thursday 6^th March: Paulette Mae sea me, Old Museum Space

Friday 7^th March: Paulette Mae sea me, Old Museum Space

Friday 7^th March: Tavaziva in Tavaziva Ten, Pegasus Theatre

Monday 10^th March: Body Politic presents Candoco Dance Company, Parasol and Guests, Pegasus Theatre

Friday 14^th March: Oxford Youth Dance presents Just in Time, Pegasus Theatre

Saturday 15^th March: Oxford Youth Dance presents Just in Time, Pegasus Theatre

Wednesday 19^th March: The Royal Ballet in The Sleeping Beauty, Phoenix Picturehouse

Wednesday 19^th March: Rambert Dance, New Theatre

Thursday 20^th March: Rambert Dance, New Theatre

For further information about participatory events including workshops and conferences:

http://dancinoxford.co.uk/whats-on

http://oxforddancewriters.co.uk

About the Dance Writers of the Future Project in previous years:

2009

Students with an interest in performing arts and especially dance were encouraged to develop their critical and writing skills in reviewing dance performances in Oxford, beginning with The Solos Project at the Burton Taylor Studio in January and covering the events of the Dancin’ Oxford Festival 2009.  This project involved groups studying GCSE Dance at East Oxford School of Ballet, National Diplomas in Dance and Performing Arts at Oxford and Cherwell Valley College, also BA Performing Arts students from Oxford Brookes University, and Oxford University undergraduates with an interest in arts and journalism.  This initial Dance Writers project was led by Mike Levy, Oxford University Drama Officer, and Susie Crow of Ballet in Small Spaces.

Daily Telegraph Dance Critic Ismene Brown was the guest speaker for an introductory Question and Answer session on dance writing and reviewing at the Burton Taylor Studio Theatre on 27^th November ’08, and Susie Crow led a session on critical writing and reviewing for OCVC students on 9th December ’08. All participating students were encouraged to attend a performance of the Solos Project in January and submit a brief review.  Selected writings were posted on the Ballet in Small Spaces website.  A small number of students from across the groups received specially discounted tickets to Oxford venues to enable them to continue reviewing dance events over the spring term.  All participating were encouraged to continue submitting reviews and contributing to online debate through this blog and postings pages hosted by Dancin’ Oxford and Ballet in Small Spaces. Oxford University students involved were encouraged to submit a portfolio of dance reviews to the annual Tynan Prize for drama criticism.

2012

Following the success of the  project in 2009, Oxford Dance Writers ran a second Dance Writers of the Future competition to find talented young writers on dance.  This focused on Dancin’ Oxford 2012, whose programme of dance events, activities and performances from 18th February to 28th March provided multiple opportunities for reflective writing and critique. Entrants were asked to submit a piece of original critical writing about an event taking place as part of the Dancin’ Oxford 2012 programme. This could be a review of a performance, an account of a workshop experienced, discussion of a talk or conference presentation etc.  Prizes included pairs of tickets for dance performances in Oxford including Matthew Bourne’s Nutcracker and English National Ballet’s collaboration with Flawless Against Time at the New Theatre, and joint subscriptions to The Dancing Times and Dance Today.  The Dancing Times also published the two winning entries, and you can find them here and here on Oxford Dance Writers.

Oxford Dance Writers is always looking for locally based dance writers of all ages to review performances and events and to write about dance, and if you are interested or inspired by this please contact Susie.  Details of further Dance Writers of the Future initiatives will be posted here.

Looking forward to hearing from you…