Categories of Dance
This is a highly personal categorisation system for (and from) someone that has been watching dance for more than a decade, has a reasonable idea of what's 'good', what they like, what's exciting and what they are barely able to tolerate any longer; with an eye on who is worthy of note and who has been getting away with it and needs to step their pussy up.
1. Essential Modern: the kind of dance I want to be watching now and at this time: edgy contemporary in theme and style, cutting edge, progressive, exciting. Likely to be choreographer or artist driven rather than company-led.
Examples: L-E-V (Sharon Eyal & Gai Behar), Hofesh Shechter
2. Quality Contemporary: companies and choreographers that are producing/continuing to produce high quality contemporary dance that reflects the best the genre has to offer.
Examples: Wayne McGregor; Rambert; Russell Maliphant Dance Company, Michael Clark Company
3. The Mainstream: companies that are still producing the kind of work that UK dance companies produce but without consistently achieving transcendent quality, innovation or excitement. Sometimes great, sometimes blah.
Examples: Phoenix Dance Theatre, Ballet Black, National Dance Company Wales; Scottish Dance Theatre, BalletBoyz; CanDoCo
4. Mavericks, Upstarts and Innovators: companies that are punching above their weight, hard to categorise, interesting. Will either remain as mavericks or progress to another category over time.
Examples: DeNada Dance Theatre, Humanhood, Igor + Moreno, Clod Ensemble, Holly Blakey; Teac Damsa; Lost Dog Dance, Gary Clarke Company
5. International Modern: Companies that combine the qualities of Essential Modern and Quality Contemporary but in an international context. Rarely seen in the UK outside London (next best options: Edinburgh International Festival, Birmingham International Dance Festival)
Examples: NDT, NDT2, Carte Blanche, Göteborgs Operans Danskompani, Danish Dance Theatre, Iceland Dance Company, Ballet National de Marseille
6. The Midstream: companies that are managing to produce and tour work that is neither especially interesting or remarkable or progressive.
7. Solo Operators: individual dance artists (or duos) pursuing their own 'lonely' furrow, sometimes older. Can be amazing.
Examples: Claire Cunningham, Wendy Houstoun, Liz Aggiss, Jo Fong
8. Family favourites: companies that are hugely commercially successful (sometimes but not always deservedly) and those that are happy (or wise enough) to just make work that has a broad family appeal, accessible (or specifically) for kids.
Examples: New Adventures (Matthew Bourne), BalletLorent, Arthur Pita