August 2008

Posted on July 4, 2008

This month, we pay tribute to Mary Clarke, our editor emeritus, who has dedicated an incredible 54 years of service to this magazine, 45 of them as editor. Mary’s wide and deep subject knowledge covers all aspects of dance, and her sharply perceptive articles and reviews of dance performances of all kinds – from the greatest of international ballet companies to the smallest of local dance schools – are widely admired. Equally, all those who worked for and with her cherish the quiet, firm yet generous and kind talents she displayed as editor. She will be a hard act to follow! Since the announcement of her retirement last month, Dancing Times has been inundated with warm messages of appreciation from members of the international dance community, some of which we publish in this issue, whilst in Talking Point Clement Crisp pays a formal tribute. 

Also in this issue of Dancing Times we highlight the work of two of the dance world’s leading figures, Matthew Bourne and Arlene Phillips, both of whom have done much to popularise the art form with the general public. Our commitment to dance in education continues with an A Level Study Aid focusing on Dance in American Musicals of the 1930s and 1940s, and in the Teachers and Training pages we report on some of the end-of-year school performances that have been taking place recently.

Jonathan Gray

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10 Letters to the Editor

13 Talking Point. Clement Crisp pays tribute to Mary Clarke

15 Tributes to Mary Clarke. Members of the dance world salute our retired editor

22 West End Girl. Choreographer Arlene Phillips, interviewed by Katie Gregory

25 Portrait of Matthew Bourne. Louise Bennett interviews the New Adventures choreographer about his new work Dorian Gray

29 A Level Study Aid. Dance in American Musicals Part One. By Lorna Sanders

35 TanzMusik at the Lucerne Festival. A preview of this year’s music festival by Sarah Nathan-Whyte

38 ¡Viva Flamenco! Katie Gregory reports on the Suma Flamenco Festival in Madrid

41 Another Opening Another Show. Barbara Newman reviews Candide and The Music Man

45 DanceScene International – UK: New English Contemporary Ballet, Ascendance Rep, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Ballet Flamenco Sara Baras, English National Ballet. Overseas: New York City Ballet, Australian Dance Awards, American Ballet Theatre and The Bolshoi Ballet.

59 Letter from St Petersburg. By Igor Stupnikov

63 Obituaries – Irina Baronova and Maryon Lane

89 Crystal Costa is our Dancer of the Month interviewed by Margaret Willis

92 Big Dance picture spread

94 Your Page

6 Dancematters
This month: The Trocks, Dance Umbrella

61 Miscellany
This month: Darcey Bussell, BRB

67 Teachers & Training
This month: RBS, Youth Dance England, Laine Theatre Arts

71 Classified

72 Where to Learn

74 Calendar

85 Book & DVD

Simon Oliver

Simon Oliver has been production editor of Dancing Times since 2010 and is highly experienced in design across print and online magazine production. Throughout his career, Simon has worked on a diverse range of subjects including music, family history, book collecting and poker.