Siobhan Burke’s writing documents the proliferation of live dance and performance within galleries and museums, their historical precedents, and how these events reflect our current political and cultural moment. She focuses on what is gained (or lost) when performance enters non-theatrical settings, and on how the needs and labor of performing artists are honored (or not) by institutions less accustomed to presenting live art. Her writing will investigate the problems and solutions that arise from presenting performance in museum and gallery spaces, as well as the challenges unique to acquiring live art as part of museum collections.
Siobhan Burke is a freelance dance critic based in New York City. She is a frequent contributor to the New York Times and Dance Magazine, where she was an editor from 2008 to 2013. She has written for Artforum, Art in America, Open Space, the Brooklyn Rail, the Performance Club, and the Village Voice, among others. She holds a BA in American studies from Barnard College and was a 2013 USC Annenberg/Getty Arts Journalism fellow. As a freelance dancer from 2008 to 2014, Burke performed with artists including RoseAnne Spradlin, Jillian Sweeney, Rebecca Warner, and Narcissister. In 2017, she appeared in the work of Yvonne Rainer as part of David Michalek’s film installation Slow Dancing/Trio A. She teaches at Barnard College.