Art Scatter is NOT a lamentation site dedicated to cataloging the disappearance of critics from newspapers. It just seems that way sometimes. And this is one of those times. Though we won’t wallow as we lament.

The specific occasion of this post is an LA Observed post on the resignation of dance critic Laura Bleiberg from the Orange County Register, which leaves the Los Angeles mega-plex with exactly zero professional dance critics. The story says she left the paper to work in the development office of a prominent theater company, South Coast Rep. It does NOT say she was forced out, and it’s possible that the Register will hire someone to replace her. But given Lewis Segal’s buyout from the LA Times and Deborah Jowitt’s departure from the Village Voice (see our post on Jowitt below), I guess that’s hard to imagine.

So what’s missing exactly when the critic at a regional newspaper leaves her post? I did a quick scan of Bleiberg’s recent stories for the Register. She struck me as knowledgeable about her subject, a clear writer, a solid reporter. Is she on Jowitt or Segal’s level? She certainly doesn’t have their advantage of location — they get to see and comment on a far greater array of dance companies, and that’s difficult to compensate for. BUT… two stories stood out among those I read, a preview and a review of an Orange County-based dance company, Backhausdance.

Here is the lead of Bleiberg’s review:

The final ovation showered on the two men and six women of Backhausdance Friday night had a poignant, underlying significance that transcended the normal curtain-call applause.

To this viewer, it heralded a symbolic victory – for both this promising contemporary troupe of homegrown dancers, and for Orange County.

I googled in vain for more reviews of Backhausdance’s concert. Bleiberg’s was the only one. She had followed the company for the five years of its existence; she knew its founder and choreographer Jenny Backhaus and what her aims as a choreographer are; she understood where the company fit into the ecology of dance in Orange County; she was confident enough to make a strong assertion about the company’s importance. For Jenny Backhaus and the potential audience for her work, Bleiberg is FAR more important than Jowitt or Segal, and it’s a blessing to Backhaus and her audience that she’s as good and sympathetic as she is.
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