Welcome to Dancing Times - Britain's leading monthly dance magazine

In conjuction with our very special issue of Dancing Times, which celebrates the 100th anniversary of the publication of our first issue, we have taken the opportunity to re-launch our website, as well as the layout of the magazine. We hope you enjoy the final results!

Dancing Times can state with some pride that throughout the often turbulent century of its existence – two World Wars, the Wall Street Crash and Great Depression, and the current financial crisis – we never missed the publication of a single issue and have remained true to our aims of recording with honesty the events and developments in all aspects of dance. Dancing Times played an instrumental role in the formation of such important teaching bodies as the Royal Academy of Dance and the British Dance Council, and it has witnessed the UK dance scene change beyond all recognition. Just some measure of the love and respect the magazine has garnered can be read in the wonderful tributes published on page 25 of our latest issue. Kathrine Sorley Walker salutes our first editor, Philip Richardson, on page 12 and our beloved editor emeritus, Mary Clarke, is interviewed by Gerald Dowler on page 53. Also in this issue, we interview The Royal Ballet’s Lauren Cuthbertson, look at how dance floors have changed over the years, and preview the 2010 season from Dance Umbrella.

There is a theme of “passing things on” running through the current issue of Dancing Times. In Talking Point, Mindy Aloff wonders why, unlike the UK, so many in the US dance community seem reluctant to recognise the value of dance notation; Zoë Anderson talks to Christopher Nourse about the establishment of The Frederick Ashton Foundation, launched late last year; and Gerald Dowler interviews Ivan Liska, director of the Bavarian State Ballet, about his plans for the company that has just launched a “Very British?!” season in Munich. On page 27, Debbie Malina focuses on how Dance UK is progressing with its important work in establishing a National Institute of Dance Medicine and Science. On page 71 you can find details of the book and DVD sale we will be holding on February 27 and, finally, Paul Arrowsmith sifts through the findings of the dance programming survey we published in our September 2011 issue, and comes up with some interesting statistics. We offer our thanks to everyone who participated in the questionnaire, and reveal the name of the winner of the prize draw on page 35.

JONATHAN GRAY, EDITOR