May 2008

The scope and the popularity of this year’s MOVE IT event at Olympia was reported in our pages last month by Zoë Anderson and it has now been confirmed that over the weekend some 16,000 converted dance lovers or people curious about what dance has to offer, to all ages in all styles, attended. The widespread interest in dance is reflected in our Calendar pages which list dance events all over the UK and indicate, most healthily, that the major companies no longer confine their appearances to London, note (and catch) the Kirov in Salford and Birmingham, the Acrobatic Troupe of China in Salford, and tours not only by some of the smaller contemporary companies, such as Wayne McGregor|Random Dance, but also such splendid graduate performers as Verve from Leeds and Ballet Central going far from London. Witness also the International Dance Festival in Birmingham, and Dancing the World 08 at Dance City in Newcastle/Gateshead. In this issue Katie Gregory previews some of the treats coming from China, Reginald Massey celebrates the state of Indian dance in the UK, Zoë Anderson recognises 25 years of Diversions from Wales, and DanceScene International reviews an amazing variety of dance, from New York City Ballet to The Royal Ballet, Carlos Acosta and Ballet Black. We look also at the dance scene before it becomes professional, offering advice about auditions; issues involved in dance teaching; a feature on the Australian Ballet School; and results of prestigious student competitions and awards. Patricia Linton’s popular Dancers after Dancing features The Royal Ballet’s first Bolshoi ballerina, the glorious and glamorous Violetta Elvin. Gerald Dowler interviews Hofesh Shechter, fairly new on the UK dance scene, and concludes that he is an artist “in the right place at the right time”. The Dance Review by Tony Hall and the appointment of the Dance Champion (page 73) has, indeed, come at a most appropriate, auspicious time.

In this month's issue    

8 Letters to the Editor
11 Talking Point. Indian dance enjoys increasing popularity in the West, but Reginald Massey finds in India it is quite a different story
12 In the right place at the right time. Hofesh Shechter interviewed by Gerald Dowler
17 GCE Dance: Modern dance in the UK Study Aid Part One by Lorna Sanders
23 What to do for an audition. Louise Bennett offers advice on how to prepare for vocational dance schools
27 Dancers after dancing. Patricia Linton talks to Violetta Elvin
30 A welcome from the valleys. Zoë Anderson looks back at 25 years of Diversions
33 The Making of a Dancer Part 20. The final article in the series by Mary Goodhew

39 China Now. Katie Gregory previews a season of Chinese Dance
43 The Australian Ballet School. By Sophie Travers
47 New Releases – Jane Stevenson’s Edward Burra: Twentieth-Century Eye reviewed by Clement Crisp
49 Another Opening Another Show. Jersey Boys by Barbara Newman
51 DanceScene International – UK: New York City Ballet; English National Ballet; Stuttgart Ballet; Nederlands Dans Theater; Carlos Acosta; Wayne McGregor|Random Dance; The Royal Ballet; Ballet Black. Overseas: Chunky Move; Diana Vishneva; State Ballet of Georgia; Paul Taylor Dance Company; Royal Ballet of Flanders
71 Letter from St Petersburg by Igor Stupnikov
75 Obituaries – Pilar López Julvez, Margaret (Peggy) Roberts, Phyllis Spira, Sven Svenson

Into Dance!

101 London Children’s Ballet: Diary of a dancer
104 Ludovic Ondiviela is our Dancer of the Month interviewed by Margaret Willis
106 Your Page

Regulars

6 Dancematters This month: Edinburgh Festival, Ballet Central tour, Bolshoi Ballet DVD competition
73 Miscellany This month: Alvin Ailey and Wayne McGregor
78 Teachers & Training This month: Royal Ballet School, AES Tring
83 Classified
84 Where to Learn
86 Calendar
97 Book & DVD