February 2021

Posted on February 25, 2021

Editorial and contents February 2021

So here we are again, back in lockdown in the UK for the third time. Hopefully, with COVID-19 vaccinations now being delivered across the whole of the country, we will soon be able to get back to something with a semblance of normality, and finally say goodbye to all those online dance classes and performances that we have had to accept over the past year. 

In this latest issue of Dancing Times, we pay tribute to Robert Cohan, the dancer, choreographer, teacher and director who did so much to establish and promote contemporary dance in the UK. Cohan died last month at the age of 95, but continued to work almost to the end, and I think it fair to say that we simply wouldn’t have the rich and diverse contemporary dance repertoire we currently enjoy in the UK without him and his pioneering work. His biographer, Paul R W Jackson, provides a formal tribute to Cohan in Obituaries, and dancer and choreographer Yolande Yorke-Edgell offers her own personal view on the great man in Letters.

In addition, we include interviews with Roberto Bolle, Len Goodman, Dane Hurst and Robin Windsor, and discover from dance teacher Karen Berry why a more generalised dance education may lead to more versatile dancers.

JONATHAN GRAY

Dancing Times, February 2021 Volume 111 Issue 1326

Cover Stories

15 – Bolle uncovered. Graham Spicer interviews Italian star Roberto Bolle

25 – Life changing. Jonathan Gray talks to Dane Hurst, artistic director of Phoenix Dance Theatre

29 – Doing a Cher. Nicola Rayner hears from Robin Windsor

54 – With a little bit of luck. Alison Gallagher-Hughes learns how Len Goodman became a household name

Features

20 – Versatility. Karen Berry makes the case for more generalisation in dance training

33 – Loving the transformation. Deborah Weiss finds out about the Masters of Ballet Academy from director Elena Glurjidze

37 – A balletic truce in South America’s pandemic. Fátima Nollén sees Ballet Nacional del Sodre in La Tregua

Dance Today

56 – Tips on technique. By James Whitehead

57 – Technique clinic. By Phil Meacham

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

59 – Stepping Out. By Marianka Swain

60 – Somewhere in time. By Jack Reavely

Regulars

6 – News. New Year Honours

10 – Letters

12 – Talking Point. By Barbara Newman

41 – Dance Scene. The Royal Ballet, Breakin’ Convention

46 – FRANCE/dance. By Laura Cappelle

48 – Letter from St Petersburg. By Igor Stupnikov

50 – Notes from New York. By Jack Anderson

63 – Dancer of the Month. Margaret Willis interviews English National Ballet’s Ivana Bueno

66 – Obituaries. Robert Cohan, Ann Reinking

68 – Media

71 – Products

72 – Education. Royal Ballet School online

75 – Health. Debbie Malina highlights dance classes for older people

79 – Classifieds

80 – Calendar

82 – Last Dance. We look back to February 1981

Jonathan Gray

Jonathan Gray is editor of Dancing Times. He studied at The Royal Ballet School, Leicester Polytechnic, and Wimbledon School of Art where he graduated with a BA Hons in Theatre Design. For 16 years he was a member of the curatorial department of the Theatre Museum, London, assisting on a number of dance-related exhibitions, and helping with the recreation of original designs for a number of The Royal Ballet’s productions including Danses concertantes, Daphnis and Chloë, and The Sleeping Beauty. He has also contributed to the Financial Times, written programme articles for The Royal Ballet and Birmingham Royal Ballet, and is co-author of the book Unleashing Britain: Theatre gets real 1955-64, published in 2005.