August 2019

Posted on August 29, 2019

Editorial and contents August 2019

I reach the 11th anniversary of my appointment as editor of Dancing Times this month, something I find very hard to believe. Sometimes it seems as if it happened yesterday; at other times, it could have been a million years ago. There has been so much change in dance since 2008 and, looking back, it almost feels we are living in a different age. Some things in dance have changed for the better; others for the worse, but I’m delighted Dancing Times is still here for you, reporting on the many developments in our industry.

One of the most exciting developments in recent years has been the emergence in the UK of a generation of talented black ballet dancers – both male and female – and I’m thrilled Ballet Black’s Cira Robinson, about to appear in Scottish Ballet’s The Crucible at the Edinburgh International Festival, is the subject of this month’s main interview with Zoë Anderson. In other articles, Fátima Nollén discovers how, against all the odds, dance companies are continuing to perform in Venezuela; Alastair Macaulay makes a return trip to see The Royal Ballet at Covent Garden after many years; and Marianka Swain finds out more about how women are subverting the traditional values of Argentine tango.

JONATHAN GRAY

Dancing Times, August 2019 Volume 109 Issue 1308

Cover Stories

13 – Making it real. Zoë Anderson speaks to Ballet Black’s Cira Robinson

31 – Moving between things. Caitlyn Lehmann interviews choreographer Liam Scarlett

34 – Nijinsky’s spectacular leap. By Trader Faulkner

60 – A feminist take on tango. Marianka Swain squares Argentine tango with today’s

modern gender values

Features

17 – The Royal Ballet: 40 years on. Alastair Macaulay returns to Covent Garden

20 – Dancing at the movies. Dominic Antonucci recalls some special movie memories

23 – More edge. Ballett Zürich’s Christian Spuck talks to Graham Watts

27 – Surviving the turmoil? Fátima Nollén looks at dance in Venezuela

Dance Today

64 – The two-step. Nicolette Loizou looks at speed-date social dancing

66 – Tips on technique. By James Whitehead

67 – Technique clinic. By Phil Meacham

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

69 – Stepping Out. By Marianka Swain

70 – Notes from the Dance Floor. By Nicola Rayner

72 – Somewhere in time. By Jack Reavley

Regulars

6 – News. Dance Umbrella 2019

10 – Talking Point. By Daniel Pratt

37 – Dance Scene. Reviews include Ballet Theatre UK, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Boris Charmatz, Flamenco Festival London, National Ballet of Canada and Stuttgart Ballet

53 – FRANCE/dance. By Laura Cappelle

55 – Letter from St Petersburg. By Igor Stupnikov

57 – Notes from New York. By Jack Anderson

75 – Dancer of the Month. Margaret Willis meets English National Ballet’s Julia Conway

79 – People

81 – Obituaries. Julia Farron

83 – Products

84 – Education

86 – The dancing mania. By Debbie Malina

89 – Classified

90 – Calendar

94 – Listings

98 – Last Dance. We look back to August 1979

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.