Stretton links in InterViews and News Stretton in Postings ROH press release on the appointment Our RB page Australian Ballet Website Our picture is by Bill Cooper and courtesy of the ROH

After a chat with Ross Stretton one comes away with the feeling of an eminently calm and capable 'bloke'... but as you listen and respond you also think "my: what a hell of a job for anybody to take on" - there is so very much to do, so very many people to see, so many vested interests, so many questions and every response is sifted, weighed and categorised to be recalled and used in 'evidence' later. Did anybody think to read the standard police caution to him about the job I wonder?

No matter, Stretton gives every appearance of knowing exactly what he is up for and he seems comfortable with the uncomfortable.

Background to the Chat
Ross Stretton came over for 5 days in the week beginning 20th March. It sounds a long time but he must have had the diary from hell with so many people to see inside RB/ROH (management above, managed below, dancers, choreographers, major benefactors...) and all the external work too. I was one of a group of eight to see him late afternoon on the Thursday - considering he must have had four days of solid meetings all day, and working meetings at night, he looked fresh and most importantly, pleased to be with us and tell us what he was about. He didn't rush away either.

Of course following the initial announcement there was a flurry of telephone interviews with Stretton in Australia, plus local interviews out there and a wealth of links, quotes and anecdotes are on the net already. The joy of being part of wave 2 is hearing and talking about a slightly more considered and reflective view. But anybody looking for major revelations won't find them here. Rather it was nice to see and hear first hand his thoughts and what it might mean for the Royal - very much a kind of touchy/feely thing and few notes were taken by anyone.

What follows is what we talked about with Stretton on the day. I'm not particularly aiming to give a rounded account of his career or distill down what he has said in various other interviews - they are all worth reading to get the fullest feeling for what is important to him. However the collective questions and answers I think pretty much cover the man and where he is coming from - but I would say that I suppose!

Stretton Style
The original man in black - he is dressed comfortably with a black top and black trousers. He could have almost stepped straight from the rehearsal room: neat and artistic director business like I suppose.

Ross Stretton atop The Royal Opera House
Photographer Bill Cooper and courtesy of the ROH

His personal style is relaxed and warm but there is authority and he tends to look you straight in the eye when answering. While he doesn't waffle he definitely has what I think of as the American way of finding the right words with the right weight. And he would invariably seek ways of firstly agreeing with you rather than telling you he disagrees: if necessary that would be wrapped up nicely and added at the end - but you might need to hunt for it! One suspects however that he can be more direct - the Australian bit of him? - and of course in one or two early interviews there was less constrained talk about what he might do with 'butts'.

Although sharing some of Michael Kaiser's 'appropriate' use of English plus both having worked at ABT and Kaiser having made the call to him about the RB job, Stretton is keen to be seen as his own man - he is there to run the ballet and clearly expects to. On a positive note he talks of the pleasant initial interactions - where Kaiser asked Stretton what he wants to put on - budgets are not the central issue, which must make for a refreshing change for everybody.

Stretton is at pains to make clear that he definitely is not an office bound director - he likes to be out in class, rehearsing dancers and seeing what's going on elsewhere as well. He was asked if he would dance any roles himself - the odd Carabosse for example: "That's not what I'm here to do" was the swift response.

He sees dancers as different these days: much more athletic and with minds that see far broader issues. The result is that they need to be involved,motivated and pushed: not just told what to do.

Unpacking his Inheritance
Many times during the chat he talked about having to assess the position before making full plans. He needs to see the dancers, study the repertoire and what was danced when etc. With an eye to the wider organisation he also talks of the need to assess the ROH - "the ballet company is the easy part!". One got the impression of somebody who sees a goodly number of very positive ways forward no matter what circumstance they might find themselves. And if nothing else is achieved in his coming over he is going back to Australia with an awful lot of RB videos to study.

Having stressed the need to assess and mug-up on so much, the only community he didn't mention in this respect was the audience. Unfortunately time was too short to explore this. But based on what he said here and elsewhere he holds some clear views on the need to move ballet forward and broaden the audience (of which more later). While many would agree with him it would be nice if he saw the audience as there to be consulted and more formally considered perhaps more than to be educated and sold to (as well as entertained of course!).

Stretton's Australian Ballet
Stretton gave us a thumbnail sketch of AB: 58 dancers with a 'full repertoire' from the classics through to very modern works, 3 resident choreographers, and giving 190 performances a year. AB seems to sell well at the box office with 90% of performances sold by subscriptions to 3, 4 or 5 performances. While there would not seem to have been much scope actually to grow the audience he has changed their composition with his move to introduce more modern works - so in part it's a more youthful audience now.

A few of us draw the natural comparisons with RB which has more dancers (approx 86 plus guests ) and fewer performances (around 130) making it difficult to draw out and develop younger dancers. Also the lack of any resident choreographer(s). Stretton naturally talks about his need to see the company much more but notes the extra performance spaces that now exist in the ROH and clearly intends to use them for growing choreographic talent and dancers. He also mentions extending runs of existing programmes as a way of growing dancers rather than always doing new programmes. There are so many ways to juggle of course but the larger company and smaller number of main house performances are likely to continue to test all concerned.

New Works
The need for new work was what Stretton choose particularly to highlight in his words for the ROH press release on the appointment. Most interviews have highlighted this aspect of what he brings as well.

He is clearly passionate about seeing ballet move forward and renew itself. The 3 resident choreographers in AB are a testament to that as is the introduction of other works from international choreographers - the ones he usually mentions are Duato, Kylian, Forsythe, Bejart and Preljocaj... but he always adds that he can rattle off a very long list, but it does not count for much until he has seen the dancers and what the company can do. You get the impression that Stretton has a very wide knowledge of what is going on worldwide and knows how to introduce winners that will suit the dancers and win over the audience - and the proof was in Australia where new works sell apparently as well as the old. It obviously played well to the ROH board

Stretton spices his responses about young choreographers and new works by noting you have to ".. build programmes around new works so that they don't fail." He cites Natalie Weir who originally choreographed a short workshop piece, who was then presented on the main stage as a one act piece a year later and this year is going on to develop that piece into a full evening ballet. It seems such a sensible way to develop talent I have to say.

Classical and Heritage Works
Classical works were not mentioned at all - it seems to be taken as a given that they will feature and be looked after.

Heritage works (Ashton and MacMillan are the primary RB examples) are much more of a concern to many fans and critics. Stretton was clear that the board would not have offered him the job if they thought he would not respect the RB heritage works and he - personally - was not there to oversee the demise of the RB heritage.

But of course if there is extra emphasis on new works, it's logical that something must give elsewhere... so it's not necessarily easy to square all the responses. Some questioners also noted that the Royal is light in Tudor and Cranko, and yes that too would be nice to put right at sometime Stretton agreed, though he gave no particular hostages to fortune.

In bringing back or recovering old heritage works he was at pains to say it was only worth doing if the work could be done with integrity and within the spirit of the original work - he's not so interested in guess-work or just getting the steps from notation. With an eye to costs he also talked about only being able to bring back works which had a life of a few seasons. Reading between the lines, always dangerous of course, it seems to be that heritage works that do come back will be done very well.. or they will not be done at all.

Collaborations
Stretton seems to be a firm believer in fusing ballet with other dance/art and you can read elsewhere of some the work AB have done in this area. But he notes the ".. need to work with marketing - it's no good if you can't get it out there".

He was also asked about collaborations with other companies... like American Ballet Theatre (ABT). "Why not, it's almost inevitable given the cost involved - but not just with ABT of course!".

The First Stretton Season
Stretton says the 2001/2002 season is clear and totally his to shape. The season would normally start in September but he has a commitment to AB until later in 2001. At the moment the hope (of both the Boards involved) is that Stretton will be able to take up his appointment in September and AB will have a new AD in place at that time. If he is not around then it would change the works he selects for the start of the season - he needs to teach, coach and nurture the dancers in some of the repertoire he might choose. However what that might be is a long way off from being decided let alone spoken of externally. One suspects a run of Nutcrackers at Christmas might still be on though!

At the end I ask how long it will take to see the Stretton difference... He smiles a smile and gives a 'how long is a ball of string' answer. It's not 1 or 2 years, though clearly he will want to land and make as big an impact as he sensibly can. We all know the answer - that it takes more than a few years to move a company on and for that to be appreciated by the wider audience, and a different audience indeed. He is obviously not daunted - just wants to get on.

Stretton talks confidently and perceives there is much to be done and that he can add to the company. He is backed by a management that wants the past respected while encouraging him to take a world class company forward and actively encouraging him to ask for what he wants rather than just think money. (The cynic in me says it will never last!). The new is likely to feature more but if he keeps the seats full and gives us more diversity that will be no bad thing - at least in my book. Perhaps more than anything Stretton looks as if he will help to raise the RB profile and make ballet/dance more relevant to everyone. If he succeeds in this we will all have reasons to be very thankful indeed.