http://www.villagevoice.com/2011-09-21/dance/no-eacute-mie-lafrance-would-like-to-push-you-around/
Apollinaire Scherr’s dance critique, entitled “Noémie Lafrance Would Like To Push You Around” was a very candid and straightforward representation of his disappointment after seeing Noemie Lafrance’s new project, “The White Box”. Seemingly a very experienced critic, he didn’t adhere to the rules of the Feldman Model of Criticism, however he was very effective at painting a picture of the performance in my mind and conveying the reasoning behind his disappointment.
He began with a brief background on the artist by describing the works that Lafrance had done in the past that evoked a completely different and more positive response from critic and audiences. For him this was an advantageous approach because the contrast between Lafrance’s debut performances which were exciting and suspenseful and the new piece that he conveys as being boring and diluted makes the readers more susceptible to agree with his opinion.
Before he begins the description of the piece, he states the advertised interpretation, which he agrees with. Then he begins a combination of a description, analysis, interpretation, and evaluation throughout the main body paragraphs of the critique. As he recounts his experience, he uses descriptive language that elicits a negative connotation on the things he saw. By mixing his emotions and ideas with the description, as the reader I felt somewhat skeptical because I wasn’t given an unbiased portrayal of the performance and then presented with his opinion but instead forced to accept his perspective as irrefutable.
In closing he adds that while reflecting on the performance he felt that he was left empty and the feeling he expected surpassed the one that he was left with at the end. Even though he didn’t stick to our student format, being a professional I assume he has developed his own personal style of reviewing dance that has proved itself very effective. I think most people would be at a little hesitant before seeing this performance.
