Dancing Times features a countertenor on its cover: Jakub Józef Orliński talks about breakdancing
The cover for the November issue of Dancing Times features countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński. I interviewed him a couple of days before his Glyndebourne Festival debut singing the title role in Handel’s Rinaldo.
He’s also a b-boy, a breakdancer, and breaking gives him mental as well as physical benefits. In his first major interview about dancing, he explains why he needs to dance.
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I chatted with Orliński two days before his Glyndebourne Festival debut as Handel’s Rinaldo in August. He’d just finished a breaking session in the dance studio of Glyndebourne’s newly-built Production Hub.
‘Dance came naturally to me. I came to it late because I started breaking when I was 18 or 19, but I was always an active kid and in snowboarding, skateboarding and rollerblading I did a lot of tricks: backflips and sliding down rails. A friend suggested we should try breaking and we went to a class. ‘
He describes the experience as being akin to an enlightenment. ‘It was like finding something you were searching for, even though you didn’t know what it was. The freedom of movement, and the music! I so love music. ‘
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Also in the November issue:
Jonathan Gray on the return of Coppélia to Covent Garden
Fátima Nollén concludes her look into dance in Cuba
The Bolshoi Ballet’s Jacopo Tissi is Dancer of the Month
Northern Ballet’s Pippa Moore talks to Gavin McCaig about her new career
Nicola Rayner interviews new Strictly Come Dancing professional Nancy Xu
Marianka Swain attends Mamma Mia! The Party
David Mead visits Déda, Derby’s centre for dance and circus arts
Paul Arrowsmith meets the Royal Danish Ballet‘s Gregory Dean
James Whitehead on swing and sway in the waltz
Sarah Woodcock reviews a new book on Murray’s Cabaret Club
Alison Gallagher-Hughes finds out about the dance contents at Blackpool’s new museum
Simon Selmon hears from swing dance teacher Margaret Batiuchok
Laura Cappelle on new productions at the Paris Opéra
Igor Stupnikov watches Diana Vishneva in Sleeping Beauty Dreams
Jack Anderson sees new works by New York City Ballet
Graham Spicer reviews the Ballet of La Scala, Milan
Debbie Malina looks at bone health for dancers
Buy your print copy here or buy your digital copy from all good app stores
Graham Spicer, aka ‘Gramilano’, is a writer, director and photographer based in Milan. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy. His articles have appeared in various publications from Woman’s Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the Danza in Italia column for Dancing Times magazine. Graham was the historical advisor on Codice Carla, the 2023 documentary on Carla Fracci.
Graham also works as a dance photographer, and his photos have appeared in many books, theatre programmes, and magazines, including Dancing Times, Dance Spirit and Ballet2000, as well as all the major Italian newspapers.
He is a member of the Dance Section of The Critics’ Circle.
