Joan of Acocella

I was watching an "American Masters" on PBS about Willa Cather. It's my kind of show, lots of talking heads, not much video, but plenty of pictures and vague recreations. It was only interesting until a woman identified as Joan Acocella started talking about Willa Cather as if she'd known her. I looked Joan Acocella up and, sure enough, the director of the show, Joel Geyer, got fired up for the documentary after reading an article in the New Yorker that Joan had written on Cather. You could tell by the way Joan talked about Willa Cather, that she did know her in a way. Joan's passionate knowledge, respect and love poured out during the interview. Interest turned to fascination. This was no ordinary talking head expert. It turns out that Joan is the dance critic for the The New Yorker. Modern dance is like modern painting, you have to pay attention to appreciate it and I'm as ADD is the next 21st Century gal. But that's where Joan comes in. She writes with the same passion as she talked about Willa Cather and takes dance from the rarefied air of theory back into your heart, where it belongs.