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Posted on February 27, 2015
Our March 2015 issue is here! Our cover star is Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Céline Gittens. This month features four British-based choreographers, discussing music, choice of subject matter, moving from dancing into choreography and the future of British classical ballet. We also speak to dance fathers and sons, herald Dance UK’s forthcoming conference and report on international performances…
Builder’s tea – well stirred
Birmingham Royal Ballet’s David Bintley tells Paul Arrowsmith about his work as choreographer and company director:
“Bintley professes not to be interested in posterity – but does he prefer to be remembered for his ballets – or as a director? ‘The two are indivisible. Being here, doing the work I want – relatively – are one and the same,’ Bintley tells me….
“‘I’m not a freelance by nature. Going into a company might work, it might not. I like to have a relationship, to know the dancers. That makes everybody look good.’”
Buy your print copy here, or buy your digital copy from all good app stores
Experience what you are doing
Robert Cohan, founding artistic director of The Place, celebrates his 90th birthday this month. He and Kenneth Tharp, current chief executive of The Place, talk to Zoë Anderson.
Cohan: “We say, ‘If you want a glass of wine, come with an empty glass.’ If your glass is full, you’re not going to get any more. The same thing is true in you. If you think you know, and you come into a class, you’re not going to learn anything, because it’s all spilling off you. If you come in empty, you begin to learn what the teacher is giving you. It may not be exactly everything you think is right, but you understand something from another point of view. And that’s experiential – especially in a dance class.”
Buy your print copy here, or buy your digital copy from all good app stores
The Music Man
Choreographer Michael Corder tells Jonathan Gray his views on classical dance in the UK.
“Classical ballets are now being presented as museum pieces, or ‘heritage works’, and the lion’s share of new creations are mainly offered by directors to contemporary choreographers. Even new productions of the classics are being offered to contemporary choreographers with no experience of working with disciplines such as pointe work, pas de deux and corps de ballet work. Some serious questions need to be asked. Are audiences really asking for this from ballet companies? I don’t think so. This issue is being driven entirely from within the companies themselves by people who should know better and often with the collusion of marketing departments who are still describing the latest piece of ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’ as ‘cutting edge’…”
Buy your print copy here, or buy your digital copy from all good app stores
Also in the March issue…
Northern Ballet’s Kenneth Tindall talks about his transition from dancer to choreographer
Dominic Antonucci looks at the lives of “ballet dads” and their sons
Margaret Willis interviews The Royal Ballet’s Tristan Dyer
Assis Carreiro introduces Dance UK’s conference on the future of dance
Zoë Anderson reports from the 2015 Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards, with all the winners
Jenny Veldhuis reports on The Bohemia Ballet, a junior company based in Prague
Preview of the Council for Dance Education and Training’s dance careers conference, held at Elmhurst School for Dance
Debbie Malina considers the benefits of chiropractic for dancers
Dance for children: we look at the family-friendly shows around the UK this month
Plus news of the Paris Opéra Ballet’s 2015–16 season, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s new role as director of Royal Ballet Flanders, English National Ballet’s 2015–16 plans, Gustavo Ramírez Sansano’s departure from National Dance Company Wales and the Royal Academy of Dance’s Moving North competition; reviews of BalletBoyz, East London Dance and the Royal Opera in Orfeo, Aakash Odedra, The Royal Ballet, Richard Alston Dance Company, John Ross and Sally Marie, ZooNation Dance Company, Kidd Pivot, Hofesh Shechter Company, Ultima Vez, Ballet Black, National Ballet of Canada, Bavarian State Ballet, the Leonid Yakobson Ballet Theatre and Justin Peck’s new work for New York City Ballet; dance education news; obituaries of Eileen Ward, Nesta Macdonald Donna-Day Washington, reviews of dance books and DVDs and more!
The March issue is in shops (including larger branches of WH Smith) now, or you can buy your print copy here, or buy your digital copy from all good app stores