A continental journey.

Dance Magazine has always traveled the globe to discover dance. From Scandanavia to the Ivory Coast to Bali, decade by decade our world dance covers offer a visual journey. Even in our first years there were illustrations of festive flamenco dancers and tunic-clad Greek muses.

It wasn't long before photographers were going out into the world, capturing dance, and putting it on our cover. In the 1930s and '40s we introduced our readers to Hindu dancer Uday Shan-Kar, Spanish dancer Clarita Martin, and Scandinavian folk dancer Liljon Espenak.

In February 1944, our cover story celebrated the lives of three dancing Carmens: the Brazilian dancer-turned-movie star Carmen Miranda, who made a fashion statement of the turban headdress; the Spanish gypsy dancer Carmen Amaya ("Amaya's beauty is such that she looks best performing in a bullfighter's costume"); and Carmelita Maracci, little Carmen, "beating out with her heels a rhythm that tickles the spine and excites the brain." (Fifty-seven years later, in the January 2001 issue, Allegra Kent reminisced about Maracci as her teacher.)

In the 1950s, explorer Hassoldt Davis traveled to the Ivory Coast where he was intrigued by the "duckling dancers" in a ritual dance, and put them on our July 1953 cover. "They wore little bells upon their backsides to sing to the rain and ask it to come to them," Davis wrote.

The 1960s, '70s, and '80s brought geometric flare. The Lado Dancers of Yugoslavia spun circles around the August 1967 cover; The Aman Folk Ensemble, linked arm in arm, danced a diagonal line across the February 1976 issue; and in November 1984, Maria Benitez and her ruffled snake-like flamenco skirt struck a perfect 'S' pose.

The June 2000 cover showed an intimate portrait of a mother-daughter Indian dance duo. In the article, Ramaa says her daughter was called to the art of bharata natyam by Shiva, the dancing god of Hindu belief, when she was only 18 months old. (Ramaa and Swetha were recently featured in a PBS documentary.)

October 2001 showcased hoop dancers, grass dancers, and shawl dancers from the 18th annual Gathering of Nations Powwow. The cover line, "All Nations Dance Together," applies equally well to this month's Anniversary Page, which gives a glimpse of the span of both Dance Magazine's history and the worldwide range of dance.