Leaping wizards of Oz; Australians now occupy the top jobs at the Royal Ballet. Luke Jennings looks at the rise of 'the Kangaroo Mafia'.

From: The Evening Standard (London, England) | Date: October 23, 2001| Author: Jennings, Luke | Copyright information

Byline: LUKE JENNINGS

"I'VE heard I'm a tough director," says Ross Stretton, the Royal Ballet's new boss. "But the fact is I like people with their own opinions.

I'll challenge them; they'll challenge me." Fighting talk - to brace himself, perhaps, for the task ahead. The former Australian Ballet director takes over a company which, earlier this year, saw the death of its founder, Dame Ninette de Valois, and the retirement of its most celebrated son, Sir Anth...

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