January 2014

Posted on January 23, 2014

Well, here we are at the turn of another year, and everyone at Dancing Times would like to wish all our readers a very happy 2014. I like to think that this issue of the magazine is a kind of mini tribute to Birmingham Royal Ballet (BRB), that much-loved company with its legions of admirers.

In Talking Point, BRB’s ballet master Dominic Antonucci ponders the nature of male ballet superstars; Gerald Dowler meets BRB’s assistant director and former ballerina Marion Tait; and our Dancer of the Month is BRB first soloist Mathias Dingman. Also in this issue, Margaret Willis travels to Panama to see the relaunch of its national ballet company, as well as to discover its links with Margot Fonteyn, who lived in the country with her husband towards the end of her life. Paul Arrowsmith sees a new permanent exhibition dedicated to the life of Rudolf Nureyev in France, and Daniel Pratt gives a British view of what it is like to be a dancer in an American ballet company. Finally, in Dance Matters, we report on the verdict of the Pavel Dmitrichenko trial in Moscow following the acid attack on Sergei Filin, the artistic director of the Bolshoi Ballet, as well as the latest news from the Vaganova Academy in St Petersburg.

JONATHAN GRAY

January 2014 Volume 104 Issue 1241

Cover stories

14 Feet firmly on the ground. Gerald Dowler meets Marion Tait, Birmingham Royal Ballet’s assistant director. Photographs by Tim Cross

21 Ballet in Panama. Margaret Willis travelled to the Central American country to see the relaunch of its national ballet company, as well as to discover its links with Margot Fonteyn

33 Dressed to impress. Paul Arrowsmith explores the costume rails and travels to Moulins, France, to visit a new permanent exhibition dedicated to the life of Rudolf Nureyev

58 Marco Spada. Marc Haegeman reviews a new Bolshoi Ballet production of Pierre Lacotte’s ballet

Features

19 MOVE IT 2014. The return of the action-packed dance exhibition

27 Dancing in the US. Daniel Pratt gives a British view of what it’s like to be a dancer in an American ballet company

Regulars

6 Dance Matters. Bolshoi Ballet trial verdict, Sarasota Ballet announces Frederick Ashton Festival

11 Letters

12 Talking Point. Birmingham Royal Ballet’s ballet master, Dominic Antonucci, ponders male ballet superstars

38 Dance Scene. Reviews include The Royal Ballet, Michael Clark Company, Mark Morris Dance Group, Bolshoi Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet

61 Letter from St Petersburg. Igor Stupnikov attends the 180th anniversary of the Mikhailovsky Theatre

63 Notes from New York. Jack Anderson sees American Ballet Theatre perform at the Lincoln Center

65 Dance Media. New books reviewed by Jonathan Gray

67 Dance People. Ann Sholem, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa

69 Health. Debbie Malina looks into the importance of foot care, and the role of chiropodists and podiatrists

75 Dance Education. Dance Proms, English Youth Ballet, Bird College

81 Classifieds

82 Where to Learn

91 Calendar

Into Dance

85 Dancer of the Month. Margaret Willis meets Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Mathias Dingman

88 Stage Picture. Giselle by Zoë Anderson

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.