Deborah Jowitt (born 1934) is an American dance critic, author, and Choreography. Her career in dance began as a performer and choreographer. Jowitt has received several awards for her work, including a Bessie Award (New York Dance and Performance Award) for her work in dance criticism.
Early life
Jowitt was born in 1934,
hailing from California.
Career
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 1970s until 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: Selected Views and Reviews, 1967–1976 and
The Dance in Mind: Profiles and Reviews 1976–1983.
In 2007, Jowitt's column in the Village Voice was increased in length to 3/4 page, having been earlier reduced to a half-page; in 2008, her position as dance critic was converted from full-time to freelance. However, Jowitt continued to write 3/4 page reviews for the Voice until 2011.
Her biography of the dancer Martha Graham, Errand into the Maze, was published in 2024.
Awards
-
1985, a special citation from the SDHS for The Dance in Mind
-
1988, the de la Torre Bueno Prize for the best book in the field of dance studies for Time and the Dancing Image
-
2001, the "Outstanding Contribution to Dance Research" award from Congress on Research in Dance (CORD)
-
2005, a special citation from the Society of Dance History Scholars (SDHS) for her 2004 book, Jerome Robbins: His Life, His Theater, His Dance
External links
