Moving away from a long, intense preoccupation with performing and staging dance has given me a new perspective about the need for a literature of dance in Canada.
Cultural literacy means consideration for the context of art.
In disciplines other than dance, this is well-developed and respected as a parallel stream to artistic practise. Comment, analysis and investigation are regarded as integral parts of other arts, and are part of the basic study of an art form. There is a recognition among painters, film-makers, writers, musicians and actors that without a literature there is no memory. It means dance finding ways to spread its attraction through the power of print and electronic media, film and video. Canadian dance history is alien and unknown to young students of dance.