Sasha Anawalt (born 1956), born Marcia Evelyn Cunningham, is an American dance critic and educator who founded several arts journalism programs at USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism in Los Angeles, including a master's degree program in arts journalism (2008). She is author of The Joffrey Ballet: Robert Joffrey and the Making of An American Dance Company.
Sasha Anawalt | |
|---|---|
 Sasha Anawalt | |
| Born | Marcia Evelyn Cunningham |
| Alma mater | Barnard College |
| Occupation(s) | Arts journalist; professor; critic; author |
Early life
Born in New York City in 1956,[citation needed] Marcia "Sasha" Cunningham grew up the daughter of a painter and arts school founder, Francis Cunningham, and a dance critic and librarian, Kitty Cunningham. She attended Brearley School and graduated from St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire and Barnard College. She married William Anawalt in 1980.[1]
Career
By 1976, Anawalt was writing about dance for the SoHo Weekly News and Montreal Gazette, and had created The Weekly, an arts supplement for her college newspaper at McGill University in Montreal. She moved to Southern California in 1982.[citation needed]
Anawalt wrote about dance, theater and television for numerous publications, including The New York Times, and served as dance critic for National Public Radio's affiliate in Santa Monica, KCRW, for a dozen years beginning in 1984,[citation needed] as well as for the L.A. Weekly.[2]
In 1996, her cultural biography The Joffrey Ballet: Robert Joffrey and the Making of an American Dance Company was published by Scribner.[3][4] The highly anecdotal book took her nearly six years to write.[5] Kirkus Reviews called it "an intelligent, fair, fascinating portrait of a seminal figure in American ballet", praising Anawalt's writing: "Unusual among dance critics, she never hides behind a professional dance vocabulary. She also ventures worthwhile observations on contextual issues, such as the uncomfortable coupling of dance with business in this country and the politics of American arts funding".[6] Publishers Weekly also positively reviewed the book.[7] Allan Ulrich of The San Francisco Examiner called it "an absorbing in-depth study of the company".[8] Jack Anderson of the New York Times wrote that it was "a book remarkable for its warmth and vigor, and for its blending of candor and judiciousness" and that Anawalt's "appraisal of Joffrey's directorial philosophy is shrewd indeed".[9]
The book inspired a feature-length documentary film by Bob Hercules, Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance (2012), which aired on PBS' American Masters.[10][11][12][13]
In 2001, Anawalt joined USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism to build the USC Annenberg/Getty Arts Journalism Program.[citation needed] An arts journalism fellowship program that immersed international journalists in the Los Angeles arts scene and lasted until November 2013, it spawned both the NEA Arts Journalism Institute in Theater and Musical Theater[14] and the Master's Program in Specialized Journalism (the Arts) at USC Annenberg.[15]
In 2009, Anawalt resigned from the Pasadena, Calif. Arts and Culture Commission after the commission refused to display two pieces of public art.[16] She is the recipient of a Citizen Ambassador award from the City of Los Angeles and a Literary Arts Award from the Pasadena Arts Council.[citation needed] Anawalt served on the Pulitzer Prize jury panel for criticism in 2006 and 2007.[17][18]
Works
References
- ^ "Marcia Cunningham Wed to W.B. Anawalt." New York Times (1923-Current file); New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 24 Aug 1980: 73. Via Proquest.
- ^ "Sasha Anawalt". www.laweekly.com. Retrieved 2021-01-06.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Anderson, Jack (Feb 9, 1997). "Dance Fever". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 September 2013.
- ^ Jacobs, Laura (Nov 3, 1996). "Grace Under Pressure". The Washington Post. Retrieved 5 September 2013.
- ^ "Book Connects U of I to Joffrey Ballet History". The Gazette. 1996-11-27. p. 7. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
- ^ THE JOFFREY BALLET | Kirkus Reviews.
- ^ "Nonfiction book review: The Joffrey Ballet: Robert Joffrey and the Making of an American Dance Company". www.publishersweekly.com. Retrieved 2020-12-21.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Getting in Step with the Joffrey". The San Francisco Examiner. 1996-11-05. p. 19. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
- ^ Anderson, Jack. "Dance Fever: How Robert Joffrey created a large mainstream audience for ballet." The Joffrey Ballet: Robert Joffrey and the Making of an American Dance Company." New York Times (1923-Current file); New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y] 09 Feb 1997: 304. Via Proquest.
- ^ "Trailer: Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance". PBS. Retrieved 5 September 2013.
- ^ Prossnitz, Lindsay (Dec 20, 2012). "Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance". WTTW. Retrieved 5 September 2013.
- ^ Ono, Ian (Jan 27, 2012). "Sasha Anawalt on Joffrey". Examiner.com.
- ^ Siegel, Marcia (May 8, 2012). "Joffrey Ballet gets its due". The Phoenix. Retrieved 5 September 2013.
- ^ Horgan, Richard (Feb 17, 2011). "USC Annenberg Gearing Up for Another Arts Journalism Boot Camp". AdWeek. Retrieved 2021-01-06.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "USC, Sony Pictures team on film criticism fellowships". www.bizjournals.com. 2015-04-01. Retrieved 2021-01-06.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Itzkoff, Dave (Feb 2, 2009). "Rejection of Public Art Leads to Resignation". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 September 2013.
- ^ "The Pulitzer Prizes/Juors". Pulitzer.org. Pulitzer Prize. Retrieved 5 September 2013.
- ^ Roderick, Kevin (March 4, 2007). "Responding to Pulitzer buzz". LA Observed. Retrieved 5 September 2013.