The Royal Ballet at 75

Amid the euphoria of the 75th birthday festivities it is easy to forget that when the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, closed for rebuilding and refurbish­ment in 1997 that the management of the time seriously considered disbanding the Royal Ballet for financial reasons. That period has now become the stuff of long-remembered nightmares; a time when even dance and opera buffs learned to loathe the Royal Opera House’s antediluvian management attitudes.

The British media, almost uniformly philistine in attitude, were happy to give a good kicking to the Board at every opportunity and questioned the whole concept of government or lottery funding being provided for the Arts. Those dark, satanic days seem a long time ago but only because they can be viewed through the happy prism of recent events.
In late 2002 Monica Mason became the Director of the Royal Ballet and darkness and doubt were suddenly banished. Almost overnight the planned repertoire looked exciting and interesting with a coherent underlying logic. ­Significant milestones in the repertoire were revived; long neglected one-act ballets by MacMillan surfaced; new commissions were given to young choreographers, including ...