Today is the last day of February, and I, for one, am really excited. February is the shortest month on the calendar, a mere four weeks this year, and yet it feels so much longer thanks to its downright Hobbesian nature: In the States and other parts of the Northern Hemisphere, at least, it is “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short,” a situation that results in people staying inside too much and drying out their skin and getting in arguments on and off the internet over things like miscommunications or easily disprovable news stories idiotic Oscar hosts or shorted-out brains. By the time the month ends, there’s nothing left to do but be exhausted and maybe look up “daylight savings time” on Google.

Which is why this issue is, at its core, about movement and pushing forward. Kat Stevens takes a look at the new crop of female swimmers operating at the elite level; Michael Tedder talks to Charlotte Hatherley, who is shedding her real name for her new, forward-thinking musical project Sylver Tongue; and Jonathan Bogart examines the just-wrapped season of the ABC Family show Bunheads, which uses the idea of dance as its central organizing principle. Also, Jeremy Blachman gives us a glimpse at just how absurdist music festivals might get.

(Speaking of parties, if you’re in the New York area, mark your calendars: We’re having a 10th-issue party at Arrow Bar in the East Village on March 7; there’ll be readers and DJs. March 7, by the way, is two days before you should spring your clock forward.)