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Article: Can a gentle touch wake this sleeping beauty? Royal Ballet director Ross Stretton tells Jenny Gilbert why he is playing safe with his autumn programme
- Article from:
- The Independent (London, England)
- Article date:
- March 31, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2002 The Independent - London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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When Australian Ross Stretton was named as successor to Sir
Anthony Dowell as director of the Royal Ballet, the question "Who is
he?" was followed by a panicky crescendo of "And what's he going to
do to the repertoire?" Own-label work is perceived as central to the
Royal Ballet's identity. There may be bigger, flashier ballet
companies in the world, the thinking goes, but none of them has a
repertory wall-to-wall with Frederick Ashton and Kenneth MacMillan,
chief exponents of the so-called English Style. A new director
dilutes this at his peril.
So when Stretton announced his intention to bring in more
contemporary work from Europe (by the likes of Jiri Kylian, Nacho
Duato and Mats Ek), ...