We’ve gone Nutcracker mad with the December Dancing Times, highlighting the fact that there will be no fewer than four different productions playing in London over the Christmas period – it seems we just can’t get enough of this seasonal favourite. In this issue, Zoë Anderson looks at the enduring appeal of The Nutcracker; Mary Clarke talks to Peter Wright about his production for Birmingham Royal Ballet; we offer pairs of tickets as prizes to see New York City Ballet’s production of Balanchine’s Nutcracker in the cinema; Natalie Wheen looks behind the scenes at The O2 as BRB prepare to stage The Nutcracker there; and in Dance Scene UK I see my first (but not my last) Nutcracker of the 2011–12 season!

In this month’s issue of Dancing Times, we focus on men who dance. Gerald Dowler talks to English National Ballet’s exciting new senior principal, Zdenek Konvalina, and Yonah Acosta, also of English National Ballet, is our Dancer of the Month. Dance critic and historian Kathrine Sorley Walker uncovers for us the fascinating story behind the little-known Tonbridge Boys’ Ballet, an amateur ballet company of the 1930s made up entirely of male dancers, and Kevin Berry talks to Anthony Missen and Kevin Turner of Company Chameleon Dance Theatre, who are inspiring boys and young men of today to take up dance in the Manchester area.

As the cuts in Arts Council funding begin to take effect, we include two views about their impact on contemporary dance in this issue of Dancing Times. Betsy Gregory’s Talking Point column puts in perspective how the cuts will affect Dance Umbrella, the long-running annual festival of contemporary dance; and choreographer Lea Anderson talks to Zoë Anderson and me about the closure of The Cholmondeleys and The Featherstonehaughs.

September is the month that sees the start of the academic school year and the beginning of the 2011–12 season for dance companies. In this issue of Dancing Times we offer sound advice for parents of talented young dancers from Rachel Rist, director of dance at Tring Park School for the Performing Arts, as to how best to fund vocational dance training. We also continue our round-up of vocational school end-of-year shows in Dance Education (pages 74–77) – and there are lots to include over the coming months (I saw no fewer than 14 of them this summer!). Also in this issue, on pages 36–39, Paul Arrowsmith investigates how UK dance companies set about planning their advance seasons, and we invite you to take part in our questionnaire on performance attendance.