Polsky Concert

This letter is in response to the review of Rose Polsky’s concert that appeared in Calendar (“Airy Similarities in New Works by Polsky,” Oct. 9). I had the opportunity to be in Los Angeles and attend Ms. Polsky’s concert. The review was deeply disturbing to me on a factual, conceptual and philosophical level.

On the factual level, Rose Polsky choreographed the solo that was attributed to Meredith Monk. Basically your reviewer says that Ms. Polsky is not as good a choreographer as Meredith Monk, because Ms. Monk’s solo was so strong. But in fact that strong work was Ms. Polsky’s own. That a reviewer can misread a program is perhaps understandable; but to base the entire premise of a review on such a mistake is most troubling.

That error notwithstanding, the review is troubling on much more profound levels. The title of the concert was “A Celebration of Three Generations of Women Dancing and Singing.” I saw that concept understood, explained or critiqued nowhere in the review. While the evening’s program did not present an overtly storied text, there was clearly this underlying premise for the production.

What seemed to this viewer to be a very honest, important dance event for Southern California was trivialized by a less than adequate review. When dancers and musicians of such quality and experience (representatives from American Ballet Theatre, the Lewitzky Company and the Graham Company) share a stage, your readers deserve a critique appropriate to the caliber of the performers involved. They did not get that. This is a disservice to your readers, to the dance company and to the status of dance in Southern California.

CAROL N. SHIFFMAN

California Arts Council Program Manager

Artists Fellowships and Artists in Residence

Sacramento