Burying the Lede

This is the journalistic term for putting the key information in a story or press release anywhere except at the top. Last week I received a press release with a textbook example.

The subject was a group of local dancers who will perform in Germany in June at the Keiler Woche summer festival. Some of the works will be previewed here on May 12 at the Colorado Jazz Dance Company's annual spring concert.

Well, that's undeniably interesting, because a lot of good dancers get their start in Colorado Springs, and it's great to see them getting opportunities to perform. But it's also extremely rare for "Go!" to feature articles about events taking place far away: Local events take precedence.

But whoa, then I got to paragraph five: "The May 12 concert will also serve as the debut of Indigo Dance Theatre, a professional dance company under the artistic direction of [Zetta] Alderman."

That's news. Afaik, Colorado Springs has never had a full-time professional dance company. And Zetta Alderman - the Colorado Jazz Dance Company's artistic director - is not someone who would throw around the word "professional" loosely.

So I visited the Colorado Jazz Dance Company's enormous new digs east of Powers, where Zetta filled me in on the plans she and UNLV dance professor Richard Havey have for the new group. Next Friday's "Go!" will contain a story about the coming of Indigo Dance Theatre - an even with potentially major implications for the region's performing arts scene.

And unlke this blog entry, I promise not to bury the lede!