Allen Hughes (28 December 1921 – 16 November 2009) was an American

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoire ...

and

music critic '' The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of mu ...

. Born in

Brownsburg, Indiana Brownsburg is a town in Hendricks County, Indiana, United States. The population was recorded to be 21,285 residents at the 2010 Census, an increase from the 14,520 residents in 2000. the estimated population was recorded to be 27,001 residents. ...

, Hughes started his career as a critic in 1950 when he joined the staff of ''

Musical America ''Musical America'' is the oldest American magazine on classical music, first appearing in 1898 in print and in 1999 online, at musicalamerica.com. It is published by Performing Arts Resources, LLC, of East Windsor, New Jersey. History 1898–19 ...

''. In 1955, he became a music critic for ''

The New York Herald Tribune The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the ''New-York Tribune'' acquired the ''New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and competed ...

''. He left there in 1960 to join the staff of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' where he worked as a music and dance critic until his retirement 26 years later in 1986. He was notably chief dance critic of the newspaper from 1963-1965 and was chief music editor of the Sunday Arts and Leisure section during the early 1980s. He died in

Sarasota, Florida Sarasota () is a city in Sarasota County, Florida, Sarasota County on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is renowned for its cultural and environmental amenities, beaches, resorts, and the Sarasota School of Architecture. The c ...

at the age of 87.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hughes, Allen 1921 births 2009 deaths American music critics American dance critics American male journalists 20th-century American journalists Critics employed by The New York Times People from Brownsburg, Indiana