A Question for a Dance Critic: What is the object of your criticism?

their object of criticism and the important, relevant aspects of it. While it is absolutely necessary for a good critic to have exceptional writing skills, it is also absolutely necessary that they seek to learn everything they can about that which they are viewing and criticizing. This does not mean knowing what other productions or performances they have seen of the same material. Only if they can draw insightful and useful statements is this valid. This also does not mean relying solely on subjective responses. All criticism is subjective, but the good critic must know how to make observations that are informed and founded in some greater knowledge of the piece and of the art of dance.

Dancers, whether of ballet or musical theatre, possess (or not as the case may be) skills that allow them to be successful in executing choreography and creating a vision through dance. Demonstration of skill is a valid object of criticism. If a certain body type does not inhibit the demonstration of skill into a successful performance, it is not a valid object of criticism. Physical factors always have been and always will be of interest to dance critics. In her paper "Anti-Geneticism and Critical Practice in Dance", Julie Van Camp states:

A physical factor of similar interest to critics, although perceivable, is an unusual characteristic of a dancer's body, such as a long neck or well-proportioned figure. Such factors do enhance the quality of the perceived performance, and the choreographer's choice of bodies is as important as his choice of scenery and is frequently discussed by critics. These physical factors, largely unique to dance, are anomalous because they are not, in themselves, part of a dancer's performance. It is assumed that a musician acquires the best instrument possible; he is evaluated in terms of what he does with it. A dancer has no such choice of instruments; he is "stuck with" one body, thus making it more reasonable for a critic to qualify an assessment of a performance by noting explicitly that "in spite of" or "because of" certain characteristics of the dancer's body, the performance was of such-and-such a quality. Critical reasoning that uses physical characteristics, whether or not they are perceivable, assesses an artist's skills at overcoming or enhancing physical characteristics.

She then argues that the evaluation of a performance by reference to a physical performance factor (i.e.: misshapen) bypasses the evaluation of the dancers

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