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October 2020

Welcome to this special anniversary edition of Dancing Times. We are incredibly proud the magazine has reached this momentous milestone in its history, especially in light of the fact that within the time span of 110 years – two world wars, and political and economic turmoil, as well as pandemics – it has never missed an issue. The COVID-19 lockdown has been especially difficult for the magazine, but our small and dedicated team of just five people  – all of them working from home – are totally committed to bringing you as much material on dance as possible. I would like to thank them all – as well as our contributors and advertisers, and Warners, our printer and distributor – for their continued dedication and support during the past six months.

As the world slowly returns to some semblance of “normality” (I know I’m not the only one thrilled to be able to take a dance class again), you will notice we have been able to re-introduce the Calendar pages at the back of the magazine. As we go to press, there remains precious little dance to be seen live on stage here in the UK (top marks to Birmingham Royal Ballet, then, which will be back on stage later this month), but it’s heartening to observe just how many performances are scheduled to take place across Europe. Dance has always found a way to survive; we must be optimistic and look forward to a new, reinvigorated and highly creative future for the art form we love.

JONATHAN GRAY

Inside this issue

Gerald Dowler interviews editor Jonathan Gray about the Dancing Times’ 110th birthday, and hears from other figures in the UK dance world

Chris Nash introduces a new volume of his photographs celebrating the Richard Alston Dance Company

Marianka Swain thinks this year’s edition of Strictly Come Dancing will look and operate rather differently

Gavin McGaig discovers that dancers have been taking to their gardens and allotments during lockdown

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