To Review or Not to Review

Sometimes it hard to know whether to voice an opinion in writing or just keep quiet when you've seen something that either you didn't enjoy or thought wasn't that well executed.

After reading comments on two online forums about some recent shows, I felt the need to put pen to paper (well fingers to keyboard to be precise!). A couple of reviewers had dared to make comments that were not 100% positive about about shows they had seen, only to find that they were flamed* as a result. Both reviewers were accused of letting the side down by sharing personal views of each show in question that were not 100% complimentary. I won’t be popular for saying this, but it is only by having the courage to give an honest review that we help our community to grow and improve in standard. If we put ourselves in the public eye by performing in a public place, then we all have to deal with the possibility that not everyone will like what they see. It takes a great deal of courage these days to stand up and say that you didn’t enjoy something as much as you expected to. More often than not you will be told that you lack support for your dance community, or that you are not being loyal to the ‘sisterhood’ that is belly dance. Sisterhood to me is not just about standing together as one. It is also about trusting each other and that means being able to say honestly if something wasn’t quite right or not to your taste, as well as to offer praise where it’s due.

On occasions I really wish my friends had had the courage to tell me when (in American terms) I ‘sucked’, instead of praising my performance just to be nice. That way I would know that I either had to polish the number or discard it altogether. Instead I saw the video and cringed with embarrassment – Ouch! Every single one of us who performs in public, whether that be haflahs, performance platforms or stage productions needs to understand the benefit that we gain from an honest review. Yes, reading a less than 100% positive review is a blow to the ego, we all want to be praised and reassured that we did our best, but provided that the review is written in a constructive manner, it should be seen as tool to help us improve our dancing.

However, and here is the important part, how you review an event is as important as how you felt about it. There are good ways and bad ways of doing this. For example:‘Dancer X’s new show was terrible! She’s an awful dancer, and should think carefully before performing in public again!’ Or ‘ I don’t like dancer X or her dancing!’ ‘Poor costuming and bad make-up completely ruined this show!’

As opposed to: ‘I was disappointed by this show. Dancer X is a lovely dancer but this really didn’t do her any justice. Perhaps another time she could consider doing xxx, as I know she does that really well.’ Or ‘Dancer X was trying to produce something a little different but didn’t quite pull it off. However I did like the xxx part of the show and feel that if they worked on xxx it would be well worth seeing again in the future.’ ‘I enjoyed dancer X’s show, but for me personally number X didn’t quite work, but that’s just my opinion. Although I would say that what was a good show would be a really excellent one if they worked on the costuming and wore a little more make-up.’

Most of us can usually find at least one positive thing to say about any performance we see, and a reviewer should always mention that to soften the blow. It is rare indeed to find a show without any redeeming qualities at all and reviewers should remember this when writing their opinion for publication. It’s perfectly okay to say why you didn’t like something, but a good review is also balanced out by mentioning what you did like, and perhaps offering some friendly advice on what could be changed. Understanding that they may strongly disagree with your opinion goes with territory, so be prepared to defend your views.

Please remember that if someone tells you that xxx part of your performance didn’t quite work, but if you did xxx it would be wonderful – that’s advice worth its weight in gold! From the performer's perspective though, I would also be a little wary of the individual who is overly anxious to criticize or pull apart your performance, when the audience and other performers alike were keen to show their appreciation. That’s not positive critique, it’s more likely to be malicious, possibly as a result of jealousy. It’s important not to cross over the line from an honest review, containing constructive critique into unpleasant criticism – a different kettle of fish all together!

It is also worth taking in account that everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion on a subject. Art is subjective – what you love, others will either hate or be indifferent to, that is the nature of art. I find it strange that as a community we seem unable to accept that sometimes, in a reviewer’s opinion, a performance or show was not that good. That same reviewer also needs to deal with the fact that other people saw the same thing and thoroughly enjoyed it. Neither person is ‘right’; they just see things from a different perspective, being two different people. To me this is what is interesting about reading reviews of shows, films, and music in the national press – reviewers express their ‘opinion’ on what they thought about the subject of the review. They rarely all agree! Why is it that we shy away from doing this in the belly dance community? Is it really the case that we should all like everything and that everything we ever see is enjoyable, perfectly executed, etc.? That’s not a world that I want to live in! We owe it to ourselves and our fellow dancers to be unafraid to say if we thought a performance didn’t quite come up to scratch, or that it just didn’t tickle our fancy, just as much as offering praise for something really well done. Just remember that it’s not so much what you say as how you say it!