Guess who's giving the keynote address at the Dance Critics Association's annual conference?

ME!

I hope you can make it.

The talk will be at the Kimmel Center at NYU this very Friday July 16 at 9:30 AM for about an hour.

The Kimmel is at 60 Washington Square South, near the 4th Street stop for the A, C, E, B, D, F, M; the 8th Street stop for the N, R, and W; the Astor Place stop for the 6; and not far from the Union Square stop for N, R, Q, W, 4, 5, 6.

The topic is big: how to write criticism that leaves room for dance's future. My answers are provisional, hopeful and possibly cause for debate and fuming.

The DCA has joined forces and resources this year with the World Dance Alliance, so I will be thinking of "dance" as largely as I know how. But there will be some time afterward for you to offer your own thoughts.

So, how to attend?

The DCA board has very kindly allowed Foot in Mouth readers to pay the markedly reduced price of $8 for the talk. Just click here and pay in advance. The receipt functions as your ticket. This means you cannot just show up and pay. Have to do it in advance. (The linked html, for the luddites among us, is http://www.dancecritics.org/conferencepayment-scherr.html)

Later, you can apply the $8 towards the price of the whole conference or toward a pass to the sessions on a given day--and pay on the premises. The conference runs from Friday July 16 until Sunday July 18. You may also pay $15 for additional individual sessions on any day.

There are several conferences I think will be fantastic. Namely:

On FRIDAY (July 16) @ Kimmel

11-12:30 noon - Classical Indian Dance: Vocabulary and Critical Questions. This panel and demonstration is designed to give dance critics a deeper vocabulary for and understanding of classical Indian dance with particular reference to Bharatanatyam, the paradigm of classical Indian dance. Participants include Sunil Kothari, Rajika Puri, Malini Srinivasan, Preeti Vasudevan, Robert Abrams and Maya Chadda. The session includes a demonstration of elements common to classical Indian dance styles as well as a discussion of what it means to critique Indian dance, including issues such as whether a critique of Indian dance written from a pure dance perspective is a sign of respect; whether a knowledge of the aesthetic intent of Indian dance improves critiques of dance, Indian or otherwise; and the state of dance criticism in India.

3:15-4:45 p.m. - A Panel on Dance, Politics and Activism. Participants: Janet Eilber, artistic director of the Martha Graham Dance Company; choreographer Jane Comfort; scenic designer Bjorn G. Amelan representing the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company; and Myna Mukherjee, producer of the Engendered Festival. The panel has been organized by Robert Johnson of the New Jersey Star-Ledger.

SATURDAY (July 17) @ Dance Theater Workshop (on 19th Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues)

1-2:25 p.m. Cultural Exchange in 2010
Participants: Eiko (Eiko & Koma), writer Valerie Gladstone, presenter Baraka Sele, writer Eva Yaa Asantewaa, Urban Bush Woman chief Jawole Zollar, and writer Lori Ortiz (moderator). Today's artist is increasingly cosmopolitan. People from all cultures and subcultures tell their own stories now. It was not long ago that art of "other" cultures served as subject matter. Now, instead, we have little use for the word 'other' and we aspire to genuine dialogue. Cultural exchange has become a survival tactic for critics too.

SUNDAY (July 18) @ DTW

12:15-1:45 p.m. - Dance, Technology, and the Law: brown bag lunch session (BYO)
The panel will address issues involving the intersection of law, technology, and dance. The discussion will focus primarily on copyright issues in the world of dance. The discussion will largely center around the Dance Heritage Coalition's Fair Use Statement -- how it was compiled, its content, and how it is put into practice. Obstacles to the dance field's legacy materials being available for research, teaching, and public programs will also be discussed.

For complete information on the DCA conference this weekend, click here.

To register for all or part of the conference, click here.

And, again, to get a ticket to my talk (which you can later apply to more complete registration), click here.

Hope to see you there.