Alastair Macaulay

Liberties – A Journal of Culture and Politics features original essays and poetry from some of today’s best writers and artists to inspire and impact the intellectual and creative lifeblood of culture and politics. This issue of Liberties includes: Anthony Julius on censorship of the arts; Nicholas Lemann on rescuing capitalism; Alfred Brendel on playing Beethoven; Paul Berman on the George Floyd uprising; Fouad Ajami’s story of an honor killing; Jack Goldsmith on conservatives and the courts; Edward Luttwak on understanding China; Roberto Calasso on when journals mattered; Walter Scheidel on life after covid; Helen Vendler on the poet Robert Hayden; Robert Alter on Lolita today; Daryl Michael Scott on the 13th Amendment; Alastair Macaulay on Balanchine; David Greenberg on renaming our heritage; new poetry from Jorie Graham, Ishion Hutchinson, and Rosanna Warren; and, Leon Wieseltier (editor) and Celeste Marcus (managing editor).

Matthew Bourne and His Adventures in Dance is an intimate and in-depth conversation between the prize-winning pioneer of ballet and contemporary dance Matthew Bourne and the New York Times dance critic Alastair Macaulay. In 1987, a small, aspirant dance group with a striking name made its debut on the London fringe. In 1996, Adventures in Motion Pictures made history as the first modern dance company to open a production in London's West End. From this achievement, AMP sailed triumphantly to Broadway - winning three Tony Awards - guided by Artistic Director Matthew Bourne. Even before the inception of AMP, Bourne was fascinated by theatre, by characterization, and by the history of dance. In his early works - Spitfire, Town & Country and Deadly Serious - Bourne brought a novel approach to dance. And in his reworkings of the classics of the ballet canon - Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Cinderella - Bourne created witty, vivid, poignant productions that received great acclaim. In the first decade of the new millennium, the company name was changed to New Adventures, and Bourne's 'classics', as well as Bourne's new works - The Car Man, Play Without Words, Edward Scissorhands and Dorian Gray - achieved levels of box-office popularity that have seldom, if ever, been matched in dance. In addition, his choreography for various musicals - My Fair Lady, Mary Poppins and Oliver! - have run for years in the West End and on Broadway. The detail in which Bourne discusses his work with Alastair Macaulay is unprecedented. The two explore Bourne's upbringing, his training and influences, and his distinctive creative methods. Bourne's notebooks, his sources and his collaboration with dancers all form part of the discussion in this book.