Seeing Dance in a Different Light

Students, faculty, and friends recently helped Old Dominion University assistant professor Kate Mattingly celebrate publication of her book, "Shaping Dance Canons: Criticism, Aesthetics, and Equity."

Mattingly's new work examines 100 years of dance criticism in the United States and shows how the press influenced which forms of dance were valued and which were marginalized. "Criticism can be like a flashlight that illuminates some artists and casts everything else in darkness," she said.

Her research probes assumptions about what kinds of dance take center stage in our cultural conversations. "This book, I hope, signals the need to reflect on, inquire about, and adjust our frameworks by asking if they are still relevant," she wrote.

A teacher, researcher, and writer who focuses on fostering equity in dance education, Mattingly has been published in the New York Times, Village Voice, the Washington Post as well as in academic journals including Performance Research, Mapping Meaning and Dance Chronicle.

She teaches in ODU's Department of Communication and Theater Arts.