With ThinkingDance, Lisa Kraus and Anna Drozdowski are hoping to develop thoughful, creative and critical dance coverage in Philadelphia. Lisa, who’s written about dance for the Philadelphia Inquirer, is the project’s director, and Anna, who has worked in numerous capacities with innumerable Philadelphia performers, will serve as its associate director.

A year-long project, ThinkingDance will bring together 15 to 20 people from a wide variety of backgrounds to contribute to the discussion of dance in Philadelphia, and, who will, as Kraus and Drozdowski suggest, “ask the question: how can we best look at and understand dance and help audiences do the same?”

The application process is simple: a one-page letter of interest explaining why you want to participate, and a writing sample of no more than 1,200 words (that doesn’t even have to be about dance). Deadline for applications is July 21. Details about how to apply are here.

Successful applicants will participate in monthly peer critique sessions, and engage in five intensive weekend workships with some of the best-known dance writers in the U.S., including:

Suzanne Carbonneau, Ph.D., longtime scholar-in-residence at Jacob’s Pillow and the Bates Dance Festival, director of the American Dance Festival’s NEA Dance Critic’s Institute.

Thomas DeFrantz, theater arts faculty at MIT, editor of Dancing Many Drums.

Deborah Jowitt, pre-eminent dance writer and former Village Voice critic.

Wendy Perron, editor-in-chief of Dance Magazine, curator and commentator on dance.

Elizabeth Zimmer, long-time former editor of the Village Voice and former guest writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer.

After all the workshopping, the project will culminate in comprehensive coverage of dance at the 2012 Philadelphia Live Arts Festival and Philly Fringe.

Applications due next week: get cracking!

–Nicholas Gilewicz