Juan Michael Porter II Named Managing Editor and Critic in Residence at BroadwayWorld Dance

By: Oct. 17, 2019
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Juan Michael Porter II Named Managing Editor and Critic in Residence at BroadwayWorld Dance
Hal Pocius; photographer

BroadwayWorld Dance editor-in-chief Barnett Serchuk announced today that Juan Michael Porter II (@juanmichaelii) is returning to BroadwayWorld as managing editor and dance critic in residence. Porter II will write reviews, provide cultural commentary, breakdown new trends, and work to expand BroadwayWorld Dance's offerings. He begins his new role on October 17.

"Juan is a dancer by training and experience, and has contributed outstanding articles to Ballet Review, as well as other high profile dance publications. I know he will be definite asset to Broadwayworld Dance," said editor-in-chief Barnett Serchuk.

As a theatre and dance journalist, Porter II has contributed to Colorlines, TDF Stages, The Dance Enthusiast, Time Out New York, Movement Research, Ballet Review, and TheBody.com. Over the course of his long career, he has performed with H.T. Chen & Dancers, NYC Opera, Michael Mao Dance, Alpha Omega Dance Company, The Martha Graham Dance Company, BalaSole, Autre Ne Veut, Bird Mask, and collaborated with the jazz musician William Hooker. In 2009 he founded The Moving Beauty Series to produce artists from all over the world in concert. He has produced concerts at Webster Hall as the director of dance for their Quarterly Art Soirée, produced concerts and commissioned artist in collaboration with Williamsburg Movement & Arts Center, and served as the producer of Nadine Bommer Dance's American premiere of "Invisaball".

In his own words, Porter II shares, "I started my writing career at BroadwayWorld three years ago and am thrilled to return. After a performance, I frequently return home and dance part of what I have just watched so that I am able to inhabit my review, kinesthetically. After all, dance criticism is all about having an educated and fun conversation with our readers regarding what moved us, and if I cannot adequately explain what I watched, then I believe that I should recuse myself.

Barnett and I have had a number of conversations around how to improve our reporting. This includes turning people on to what effective dance criticism looks like. I can't wait to get started with putting our plans for a new BroadwayWorld Dance into action. I'd like to start off by inviting younger dance-makers who do not yet have the money to hire PR agents, to write me directly. I may not be able to attend every performance that you put on, but I will do everything I can to be there as a chronicler of the next generation of exciting new voices in dance."



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