Macaulay, Alastair

Alastair Macaulay is a leading critics of both theatre and dance. He was chief drama critic for The Financial Times and chief dance critic of the TLS, and was dance critic for the Guardian between 1979 and 1990. He has contributed extensively to the major dance magazines, and has written on both sides of the Atlantic for publications such as The Daily Telegraph and The New York Times Book Review. He is well known as a lecturer and broadcaster on many aspects of dance and dance history, and served as chief examiner at the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance for many years. The founding editor of Dance Theatre Journal, Alastair proved so successful as guest dance critic on the New Yorker in 1988 that he was invited back in the same capacity in 1992.  Since 2007 he has been chief dance critic for the New York Times. Alastair has written two major books: a short biography of Margot Fonteyn (1998), and an extensive interview with the acclaimed choreographer Matthew Bourne, called Matthew Bourne and his Adventures in Motion Pictures (2000).  Alastair has appeared many times on BBC Radio 3 and 4, and is currently working on two more books of his own: a study of the American choreographer Merce Cunningham’s work, and the first biography of Adolphe Nourrit, one of the great early nineteenth century tenors and a true tragic hero of the Romantic movement. Recent books: Matthew Bourne and his Adventures in Motion Pictures (Faber: 2007)