September 2021

Posted on September 29, 2021

With the summer coming to an end, we start to think about the new autumn dance season, with theatres and companies reopening right across the country. In this month’s Dancing Times, we take the focus away from London for a closer look at Birmingham, the UK’s second city, which has a distinct dance scene all of its own. Gerald Dowler talks to both Carlos Acosta and Caroline Miller of Birmingham Royal Ballet to find out their plans for the company. In addition, David Mead interviews choreographer Rosie Kay about her new, Birmingham-based version of Romeo and Juliet which opens at Birmingham Hippodrome on September 8. We also travel to Glasgow, via Hollywood and Paris, to learn more about Scottish Ballet’s revival of a work by the great Gene Kelly, and then on to Leamington Spa in Talking Point to hear from Motionhouse’s Kevin Finnan about the company’s new work, Nobody.

Like many of our readers, I will be returning to my adult dance class later this month. As normal life appears to be resuming again, from next month we are planning the return of our extensive UK dance class listings. If you would like us to include your school, or for us to update any previous listings from before the pandemic, please let us know by emailing editorial@dancing-times.co.uk.

JONATHAN GRAY

Dancing Times, September 2021 Volume 111 Issue 1333

Cover Stories

16 – New director, new company, new repertoire. Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Carlos Acosta and Caroline Miller talk to Gerald Dowler. Photographs by Drew Tommons

23 – Ringing the changes. Nicola Rayner hears from Matthew Bourne about The Midnight Bell

31 – From Verona to Birmingham. David Mead interviews choreographer Rosie Kay about her new version of Romeo and Juliet

42 – We’ll see. Matthew Paluch catches up with ballerina Maria Kochetkova, who returns to dance with English National Ballet this season

Features

26 – We’ve survived! Deborah Weiss discovers what has been happening at English National Ballet School since the start of the pandemic

35 – An American in Glasgow. Graham Watts talks to Patricia Kelly about reviving Gene Kelly’s dance of the gods for Scottish Ballet

38 – Changing mindsets. Karen Berry thinks attitude, not aptitude, will determine altitude

Dance Today

64 – Licensed to dance. Alison Gallagher-Hughes investigates the operation behind the competitive ballroom world

66 – Tips on technique. By James Whitehead

67 – Technique clinic. By Phil Meacham

68 – Simon’s Guide to Swing. By Simon Selmon

69 – Stepping Out. By Pete Meager

70 – Somewhere in time. By Jack Reavely

Regulars

8 – News. Dance Umbrella 2021, London Ballet Circle

13 – Letters

15 – Talking Point. By Kevin Finnan

47 – Dance Scene International. Milton Keynes International Festival, National Youth Dance Company, Singin’ in the Rain

54 – Variety Lights. Barbara Newman reviews Anything Goes and Carousel

56 – Letter from St Petersburg. By Igor Stupnikov

59 – FRANCE/dance. Laura Cappelle sees dance at festivals in Paris and Avignon

73 – Dancer of the Month. Margaret Willis interviews The Royal Ballet’s Téo Dubreuil

77 – Obituaries. Philip Chatfield, Eve Pettinger, Patricia Wilde

80 – Media. New books and DVDs

83 – Products

85 – Education. Gielgud Academy, Ballet Associates

88 – Health. Debbie Malina considers why dancers should take a balanced approach when returning to their usual level of activity after lockdown

91 – Classifieds

92 – Calendar. Our guide to what’s on stage in the UK and abroad

98 – Last Dance. We look back to September 1981

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.