Finding Performance Reviews and Dance Criticism

Performance reviews and dance criticism are readily available if you know where to look. Begin your search by thinking about these five factors: name of the choreographed work, name of the choreographer, performance date(s), location, and primary performers. These factors will help you to determine where to look.

Major review sources that cover New York City performances include The New York Times, The Village Voice, Dance Magazine, Time Out (NY), New York Magazine, and The New Yorker.

New York Public Library: Dance Collection
Indexes works about all forms of dance, from all cultures, in print and other media. It includes materials in many languages and serves as an index to an international range of dance periodicals. Includes Dance Magazine.

Lexis Nexis Academic
Pr ovides full-text documents from an extensive variety of sources including major newspapers, magazines & journals. Begin with the “Guided News Search” option.

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Books, Movies, Music, Play & Video Reviews

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Includes Billboard (1991-present), BackStage (2003-present), New York Times, Village Voice (1994-present*), and other popular review sources.

Note: Lexis Nexis no longer includes Dance Magazine – Use Academic Search Premier

The New Yorker, New York Magazine and Time Out ( London)(2001-present) must be search separately

*LN has temporarily removed selected Village Voice documents from 1/1/1990 – 2/21/1997.

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Academic Search Premier
Includes performance reviews from a wide variety of scholarly journals, news magazines, and newspapers since 1980s. Some may be available full text. Includes Dance Magazine

Periodical Archive Online
Provides historical online access to over four million pages published in 300 leading journals in the humanities and social sciences. Overall dates of coverage are 1802 - 1995. To Find Reviews in Newspapers Newspapers are a good source for reviews of dance performances, especially reviews of regional and local companies, dancers, and events that do not receive critical attention in major journals.

Historical Newspapers AKA Proquest Historical Newspapers
A digital archive of leading newspapers in North America that gives users access to the full content of each paper starting from their very first issues. Users can search and view article images and full page images, page through issues and search by a variety of methods. Titles covered are The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor and Los Angeles Times.

World News (Newsbank)
Provides electronic editions of local, regional, and national U.S. newspapers as well as full-text content of key international sources. Provides coverage of local and regional news, including companies, politics, sports, industries, cultural activities, and people in the community.

Poole ’s Index to Periodical Literature
This print index covers popular magazines of the 19th century. Covers 1802-1907
Available: A13 P7 Rev. Ed. (plus supplements) Index Area (Reference)

The Guardian Unlimited
British daily newspaper provides reviews and features on of major dance performances in London and the vicinity. Searchable archives available 2000-present.

Ballet~Dance Magazine [Critical Dance Reviews]
Covers all styles of dance performance with a moderated bulletin board, reviews, features, interviews, and links to select dance pages. Searchable archive of contemporary reviews.

Dance Insider
Provides “Flash Reviews”, instant impressions of performances, posted the day after the show. Archives searchable by date & performer(s)

Danceviewtimes
A writers collective providing full-text reviews of selected performances in New York, Washington, D.C. and San Francisco beginning in 2003. An online supplement to Danceview. Danceview archives provide selected online full-text reviews of major dance companies online beginning in 1999 and are accessible from this site.

New York Magazine
Provides online access to articles and listings for performing arts events taking place in the New York area.

Time Out NY
Weekly magazine providing online articles and listings covering arts and entertainment in New York City.

New York Times
Direct access to the online edition of the New York Times. Requires registration. Important: The library’s Nexis Lexis database provides full-text coverage of the New York Times [see listing above] at no cost. Ask a librarian for assistance.

Organizations

Dance Critics Association
Professional organization established for critics, editors, writers, scholars, dancers and choreographers to discuss issues that impact the world of dance in general, and the art form of dance criticism in particular.

Information Services

Finding Performance Reviews and Dance Criticism