Deborah Jowitt

Who is Deborah Jowitt?

Deborah Jowitt is an American dance critic, author, and choreographer. Her career in dance began as a performer and choreographer. Jowitt has received several awards for her work, including a Bessie for her work in dance criticism.

Beginning in 1967, she wrote a weekly dance column for the Village Voice, providing frequent reviews of dance performances in New York City. From some time in the 70s til 1994, the Voice had a page and a half for dance coverage: Jowitt contributed 1600 words or a full page of this, week after week, plus occasional features. Collections of her reviews from the Voice and numerous other publications have appeared as books - Dance Beat: Views and Reviews, New York: Marcel Dekker, 1977 and The Dance in Mind: Profiles and Reviews, 1976–1983, Boston: David R. Godine, 1985.

In 2007 her column in the Village Voice was increased in length to 3/4 page, having been earlier reduced to a half-page; in 2008, however, her position as dance critic was converted from full time to freelance. However, Jowitt continues to write 3/4 page reviews for the Voice and writes reviews for the Voice on-line edition. She is a faculty member at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University.