May 2015

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

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.