November 2008

Posted on September 4, 2008

New creation is the life-blood of dance, and this month we look at innovations both past and present. The Australian Ballet’s recent performances at Sadler’s Wells of Léonide Massine’s 1933 ballet, Les Présages, revealed stimulating dance by a master choreographer whose work many dance lovers had resigned themselves never to see. You can read my review on the performances of the ballet in Dance Scene International. At the Royal Opera House, The Royal Ballet’s resident choreographer, Wayne McGregor, curated the first ever Deloitte Ignite Festival, which involved that august institution opening its doors to a wider public through a weekend of free performances, exhibitions and events. Zoë Anderson reports on the festival on page 19.

Katie Gregory gives her impressions of Lyon’s Biennale de la Danse, where dance of all forms took to the city streets and Gerald Dowler laments the lack of diversity in today’s international ballet repertoire. Margaret Willis talks to Martin Harvey about his transformation from Royal Ballet first soloist to star of the West End’s Dirty Dancing and in the IntoDance pages, Sara Czarnota talks to the two winners of the 2008 Place Prize for Choreography. Also in this issue, Mary Clarke pays tribute to Nadia Nerina, the great ballerina who sadly died on October 6; I discover something of the past and present of ballet in Stockholm; and on page 37 we are delighted to be able to launch the first part of Sarah Woodcock’s important and meticulously researched itinerary of the Ballets Russes de Serge Diaghilev, which over the coming months promises to reveal many fascinating and often overlooked facts in advance of the 2009 international centenary celebrations of this ground-breaking ballet company.

Jonathan Gray

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In this month’s issue

Features

14 The time of his life. Martin Harvey interviewed by Margaret Willis

19 Deloitte Ignite. Wayne McGregor’s ROH Festival reviewed by Zoë Anderson

25 Kings of Swedish Ballet. By Jonathan Gray

29 Biennale de la Danse. A report from the Lyon festival by Katie Gregory

33 More of the same? Gerald Dowler looks at ballet repertoire

37 Ballets Russes de Serge Diagilev. Researched by Sarah Woodcock

40 Dancing Around Europe. Part 2 by Louise Bennett

44 Dancing Times Contents Index Volume 98.

49 DanceScene International. UK: Akram Khan, Les Ballets Trockadero, Morphoses, Rambert, Dance Umbrella: Richard Alston and Merce Cunningham, The Royal Ballet, The Australian Ballet & Bangarra Dance Theatre, Birmingham Royal Ballet OVERSEAS: New York City Ballet, The Australian Ballet, Fall for Dance

73 Obituaries. Nadia Nerina, David Fielding, Peter Snow

Regulars

6 Dancematters. Olivier Awards, Move It 2009, Scottish Ballet

11 Letters to the Editor

13 Talking Point. By Caroline Miller of Dance UK

71 Letter from St Petersburg. By Igor Stupnikov

78 Teachers & Training. RAD Genée, Arts Ed London, Tamara Rojo

81 Classified

82 Where to Learn

84 Calendar

97 Books & DVDs

IntoDance

101 Dancer of the Month – Thomasin Gülgeç Interviewed by Margaret Willis

104 IntoDance The Place Prize 2008. Winners interviewed by Sara Czarnota

106 Your Page

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.