August 2018

Posted on August 28, 2018

Editorial and contents August 2018

For people of my generation, it’s almost hard to believe Frederick Ashton, one of the greatest choreographers of the 20th century, died 30 years ago. This month, to mark his passing on August 19, 1988, we publish in Talking Point a tribute to him from Iain Webb, director of Sarasota Ballet, who has done more than anybody else in the 21st century to help keep Ashton’s ballets alive and performed. In addition, we include an essay on Ashton’s legacy from Alastair Macaulay, dance critic of The New York Times who first wrote for Dancing Times in 1978, and an examination of Ashton as innovator in relation to the ballet Jazz Calendar by Alex Simpkins, who is writing for the magazine for the first time. You will find other views on Ashton threaded throughout the magazine, too.

Also this month, Nicola Rayner talks to professional ballroom dancers Warren and Kristi Boyce, who announced their retirement from competition at the 2018 Blackpool Dance Festival, and Gerald Dowler concludes his fascinating series on Soviet Ballet from 1924 to 1941 with an account of the creation of Serge Prokofiev’s legendary Romeo and Juliet.

JONATHAN GRAY

Dancing Times, August 2018 Volume 108 Issue 1296

Cover Stories

13 – Ashton after Ashton. Alastair Macaulay looks at the legacy of Frederick Ashton 30 years after the death of the choreographer

20 – Keeping it in the family. Warren and Kristi Boyce talk to Nicola Rayner about their decision to retire from competitive dancing

29 – Old and new. In part three of her series on Brazil, Fátima Nollén looks at Grupo Corpo and the São Paulo Companhía de Dança

36 – Letter from St Petersburg. Igor Stupnikov hears from Maryinsky ballerina Viktoria Tereshkina

Features

17 – What lies beneath. Alex Simpkins on Frederick Ashton as choreographic innovator

25 – Dancing through terror. In the final instalment of his series on Soviet Ballet from 1924 to 1941, Gerald Dowler looks at “ballet fraud”

Dance Today

56 – Ballroom Bandwidth. Ballroom is becoming more visible online than ever before. Alison Gallagher-Hughes reports

60 – Coming home. Latin coach Barbara Nagode Ambrož tells Nicola Rayner about going back to the roots of Cuban dance

62 – Tips on technique. By James Whitehead

63 – Technique clinic. By Phil Meacham

64 – Simon’s Guide to Swing. By Simon Selmon

65 – Stepping Out. By Marianka Swain

66 – Notes from the dance floor

68 – Somewhere in time. By Jack Reavely

Regulars

6 – News. Tanztheater Wuppertal terminates contract of artistic director, Greenwich Dance

10 – Talking Point. By Iain Webb

33 – Variety Lights. Barbara Newman enjoys Kiss Me, Kate at the London Coliseum and The King and I at the London Palladium

35 – FRANCE/dance. By Laura Cappelle

39 – Danza in Italia. By Graham Spicer

41 – Notes from New York. By Jack Anderson

43 – Dance Scene. Reviews include Birmingham International Dance Festival, Ballet Theatre UK, Nederlands Dans Theater, Hong Kong Ballet, Les Etés de la danse

71 – People. Company promotions

72 – Dancer of the Month. Phoenix Dance Theatre’s Vanessa Vince-Pang interviewed by Margaret Willis

76 – Obituaries. Gillian Lynne, Colin Ross

79 – Products

81 – Education. The Royal Ballet School, Rambert School

84 – Health. Debbie Malina considers the relationship between cricket and dance

87 – Classified

89 – Calendar. Our guide to what’s on in the UK and abroad

94 – Listings

98 – Last Dance. We look back to August 1978

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.