PRESS RELEASES FOR DANCE PERFORMANCES
© 2012, Leigh
Witchel. All rights reserved.
Please do not
reproduce or distribute for any purpose without written permission.
A release is a utility document: A press release exists to advise the media of a performance – who’s doing it and what it’s about.
A release is used for the following types of
media coverage:
Be aware of your readers and why they are reading
– this goes to
potential reviewers, calendar and listing editors. Most often, reviews
are
handled by a different person than advance pieces or listings. At The
Post I
wear all hats: listings, features and reviews.
We’re reading to find out about your upcoming show.
Make it easy on
us and put the hard facts up at the top before the body of the release:
the
piece, the dates, the venue, the times, contact information.
A Release Template:
Here's one simple format – others will work. It shouldn't be
more than two pages long.
Send this as an email and don’t forget an informative subject
line: “Your Dance
Company performs Title at This Theater on Date at Time.” If the time
changes
from performance to performance, use the date and time of the opening.
*
For Immediate
Release
Contact:
Contact name
Contact email
Contact phone #
PRESENTING ORGANIZATION Presents
(Only include if it is sending the release.)
Dateline (Place, date) – BODY OF RELEASE
End this section with information about the performance (gala
opening night,
any pre-talks or associated events, box office hours, theater location)
BIOS
(One paragraph per person/organization is all that’s needed.
Keep the
narrative to nuts and bolts.)
A RELEASE IS NOT
AN ARTIST'S STATEMENT
An example: This example was
taken from the body of a
release from an actual show with identifying details changed or
removed. It was
a good piece, with a not-so-good release.
Landfall
(2000/2012) is a
personal look at the body
(alternately medical, eroticized and/or aestheticized). Described as
“philosophically poetic and exploratory,” the work invites audiences to
examine
contemporary notions of how we experience the body as both owners and
spectators. With choreography and visual design by “Bessie”
Award-winner X, the
original premiered in 2000 with X and performers A, B and C. The
revisited and
expanded version features performers D, E, F and G. In returning to
this work,
X has questioned how his approach to the material has shifted over
time, how
original intentions could be manifest with increased potency, and how
changes
that have occurred within his own body affect his frame of reference,
understanding, and desires for expression within the work. The central
goal of
reigniting a certain tough freshness of the original gesture of the
work has
guided the process, which X has described as an unabashed utopian
desire for a
community of difference in togetherness that exists in a space beyond
shame.
This paragraph is about artistic intentions and process, and
that’s not the
point of a release. There are no actual facts about what was onstage –
which
included two men who were naked the whole time. That has to be
mentioned, not
for morality’s sake, but because it’s the one of the most relevant
aspects of
the performance.
Here’s a start to an alternative release. It gives an idea of
what
information a listings editor or reviewer is looking for.
Landfall
is about the body and
how we perceive it - covered
or exposed. Two women in simple dresses share the stage with two naked
men for
over an hour. Trading roles, dancing together and apart, sometimes with
transparent inflatable cushions, the result is an enigmatic dance that
becomes
witty, spare or erotic as it molds itself to the viewer.
*
The text of your release
should answer two questions:
When I get a release, the first thing I do is look at who’s
involved. All
releases get placed in a personal calendar of upcoming events that I
use to
create listings for the New York Post and assignments for Danceview
Times. If I
don’t see a name I recognize or a hook, it won’t get much more
attention until
I write listings or make assignments for that week. Keeping up with
who’s
currently out there already fills my calendar. Let me know who is
working on
this project, and boldface the names.
If the release catches my interest I’ll make a mental note to
see it, and if
there’s a good hook a calendar note about 3-4 weeks out to pitch it for
a
preview.
If I see no names I recognize but the work is an area of
interest to me, I
may very well go, especially if the company is from out of town.
Figure out your calling card in a nutshell. If you’re new,
tell me who
you’ve worked with: “Former Bill T. Jones company member X.” The awful
truth:
this only works if your credentials are reasonably solid. Skip it if
they’re weak.
If so, consider hiring performers and collaborators with strong
credentials.
It doesn’t need to lead but it is important to name everyone
involved with
the production and their affiliations in brief. I’m looking for a
reason to see
– or miss – your show, and “Oh, she worked with X” might just get me
there.
WHAT ARE YOU
DOING?
Recognize a hook and lead with it:
What’s a hook? A
genuinely offbeat human interest story. An unusual locale. A major
revival. A
prominent guest artist. An unusual subject matter. They’re particular
to every
writer and publication. The Post loves offbeat stories and locations;
Time
Out/NY is more interested in profiling rising artists. Don’t reach - a
weak
hook will make you seem desperate. And for heaven’s sake, don’t let
hooks drive
your creative process. But if you’ve got one, sell it!
Use visual language: Try and get
a picture in the readers’
minds. If there’s a striking image you know will be in the dance -
describe it.
“Five women in rags inch their way down a blinding tunnel of light.”
Don’t use your grantwriting materials to fashion a release: Grantmakers are trying to use their money to do charitable work; this makes them interested in the intentions and goals of your work in a completely different way than a dance writer. Nothing will set off my bullshit detector faster than a release declaring that your work seeks to explore the otherness forced upon dancers by society’s distorted views of body imagery. Once again, a press release is not an artist’s statement. Don’t use your booking materials either. A dance writer is not a potential presenter.
Avoid jargon: Performative. Otherness.
Queering. Words that are more concept than content. Tell me what you're
doing, not what you're thinking, and use English instead.
Don’t claim what you can’t deliver:
Reviewers judge you on
a press release. I am impressed if what I see onstage is exactly what
an artist
said she was going to do. It means she is in control of her medium and
intentions.
Try and describe what you’re doing accurately and briefly. It’s tempting to want to explain your work as well as describe it. I wrote my own early press releases in the form of an interview. It took nerve and may have helped get me a review or two, but what I said also could have precipitated a few bad ones.
Don’t include throwaway copy because it sounds sexy. You could
get
crucified. If
you call your company “boldly innovative” you better do something never
seen
before on stage. The first downtown dance show I saw featured someone
pulling
an Evel Knievel doll out of his ass; are you going to douse yourself
with
gasoline and light it ablaze?
Reviewers come in all shapes and sizes. “Boldly innovative”
works that
aren’t may get my goat but another reviewer might loathe anything that
smells
even faintly of the academy. It’s a crapshoot. Describe your work
clearly
enough so that people know what you’re doing, but not enough so they
can hang
you with it. “An edgy quintet inspired by the dada writings of Tristan
Tzara,
to a commissioned score.” Descriptive, to the point and fair enough –
but it
had better be edgy. Most critics recognize that you can be inspired by
anything
and it doesn’t have to show up on stage, but even so, we want to sense
the
inspiration.
One size doesn’t need to fit all:
Since most releases no
longer need to be printed, you can customize them a bit. This is
labor-intensive, but not that expensive. Unlike reviewers, listings
people need
exciting copy and especially exciting photos. Releases that go to
people in
charge of the calendar and listings sections could be crafted more like
sound
bites. The pre-press this could generate is as valuable as any review.
If
you’re going toot your horn, this is where you do it.
Does a short personal note help?
Yes, if it’s honest. If
it’s boilerplate it probably won’t have an effect either way. If I can
tell that you’ve actually never read me, it will harm you.
I haven’t made the work yet! I
recognize how difficult this
is if you’re writing about a work that has not yet been made. If any of
it has
been done, concentrate on the major themes and moments you are certain
will be
in the finished piece and use those. If it’s still unmade, say what you
do
know, i.e. “a new all-female quartet to music by Perotin inspired by
the
writing of St. Theresa of
NUTS AND
BOLTS:
Your advance materials are the first impression
of your work:
Especially if you’re new, invest in photography that conveys the mood
of your
dances. A really good picture could evoke more about what you’re doing
than
several paragraphs and a gorgeous one can give a new artist legitimacy.
A
professional looking job with a good design and correct grammar gives
you
credibility. Other media can only help cast your net as wide as
possible. I
rarely have the time to look at online video clips; another friend
relies on
them to make decisions about features and previews.
Here’s my standard list of PR tips to make a
better e-mailed
release: It’s not one size fits all – other writers love
PDFs and I
don’t bother with them. A good compromise is to send the identical
release as
both a “light” pdf (under 100k) along with a text release. Avoid
sending mammoth photos or attachments unless you know
the person needs
a high resolution photo.
Dear Dance Producer:
As interested as I am in your work and the NYC dance scene, I
get scores of
press releases a week. If you want to make sure your release gets in my
calendar, which is for both The New York Post and Danceview Times,
here’s what
to do:
YOUR PRESS
PACK:
Besides your press release, if there is any chance that it
would be difficult to know who's who onstage, consider including a
photo lineup.
This is a
reference photo, not one for publication. It does not need to be high
quality:
line the cast up in costume at dress rehearsal identify each dancer and
print it out on regular paper, in color if possible.
Also consider production notes and a brief production history
- if this is a
major revival, tell us who, what and where of the original production
and how
long since it was last done. The production notes are again nuts and
bolts -
anticipate the background questions (where’s the music from? Were the
costumes
influenced by X?) we might have and answer them.