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Posted on May 29, 2015
We pay tribute this month to Mary Clarke, our beloved editor emeritus, who, you may already have heard, sadly died on March 20 at the age of 91. Astonishingly, Mary had an association with Dancing Times stretching back over 70 years, when her very first article for this magazine was published by our founder editor, Philip Richardson, in December 1943.
She went on to become the editor of both Dancing Times and Ballroom Dancing Times (now Dance Today), and was a director of the company until 2013. For many people, Mary simply was the Dancing Times. It has been wonderful to see her remembered in the pages of The Guardian, for which she was dance critic for 17 years, as well as The Times and the Daily Telegraph and also on Radio 4’s Last Word programme broadcast on April 10 (which can still be heard on the BBC iPlayer). In addition, The Royal Ballet dedicated the first night of its revival of La Fille mal gardée on April 16 to Mary’s memory (it was a ballet she loved), and Rambert will be doing the same on the opening night of its Sadler’s Wells season on May 12. Being a very private person, Mary would have been surprised by these tributes to her, but I hope she would also have been pleased.
JONATHAN GRAY
May 2015 Volume 105 Issue 1257
Cover stories
14 / Mary Clarke 1923 – 2015. Jonathan Gray, Clement Crisp and Jerome Monahan pay tribute to Mary Clarke, our editor emeritus, who died at the age of 91 on March 20
19 / Letting go. Gerald Dowler talks to Aurélie Dupont, who retires as an étoile of the Paris Opéra Ballet this month in a performance of Kenneth MacMillan’s Manon
23 / Living the ballet dream. Laura Dodge explores the increasing popularity of adult amateur ballet companies
Features
27 / Supervising The Lion King. Thea Nerissa Barnes on the responsibilities of a resident dance supervisor
31 / Paquita’s noble heritage revealed. Doug Fullington shows how Petipa’s Paquita was revived in Munich
Regulars
06 / Dance Matters. Royal Ballet plans 2015–16
11 / Letters
12 / Talking Point. James Barton wonders whether more attention should be paid to acting?
36 / Dance Scene. Reviews include Candoco, Scottish Dance Theatre and Hong Kong Ballet
55 / Variety Lights. Barbara Newman sees The Indian Queen and Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny
57 / Letter from St Petersburg. Igor Stupnikov enjoys a gala at the Maryinsky Theatre
59 / Notes from New York. Jack Anderson reviews a new season by Paul Taylor
61 Dance Media. Reginald Massey on a new book on Indian dance
63 / Dance People. Ann Maguire Gala at Sadler’s Wells
64 / Obituaries. Dwight Grell, Margaret Jaffé, Joan Rimmer, Grant Strate
67 / Dance Health. Debbie Malina looks at the origins of the Dance for Parkinson’s Network
71 / Dance Education. Spring Celebration, RAD
75 / Classified
76 / Where to Learn
84 / Calendar
Into Dance
79 / Dancer of the Month. English National Ballet’s Jinhao Zhang interviewed by Margaret Willis
82 / Hercules. By Zoë Anderson