AUSTRALIAN STRETTON IS LONDON'S NEWEST ROYAL.

"I WAS AS surprised as anyone," said a grinning Ross Stretton, the newly appointed heir apparent to the Royal Ballet. He takes over as artistic director at the start of the 2001-02 season, when Sir Anthony Dowell, who has held the position for sixteen years, retires. Thus ended months of speculation and whisperings among Royal watchers, though Stretton's appointment caused not a little astonishment. Stretton, who has served as artistic director of Australian Ballet for the past four years, is a little-known figure in Britain and therefore was not considered as one of the front-runners for the job. In fact, unlike other well-known candidates who had been spotted around the Opera House, Stretton had been interviewed so secretly that no one but the ROH Board knew of his comings and goings. "The only view I had of the company while in London at that time was a performance of Coppelia on television in my hotel room," he joked.

The 48-year-old Australian native, visiting London for a week of talks and observation at the Royal Opera House, said he was "very excited" about his new job. "It's a real privilege and honor to be coming in now," he said. "It's the most perfect time, since the company has successfully made the transition into the new Opera House and finally has a home."

Stretton spoke glowingly of the company that he will be leaving when he and his wife and three children make their new home in Britain. "AB is a fantastic company, a force to be reckoned with," he said. "The dancers are all young and quite fearless and adventurous in their approach. We have a couple of exciting seasons already planned--the Olympics this year and national celebrations next. Of course it was very tough making the decision to leave. But how could I refuse the opportunity to work here with the Royal?"

The competition for the job had been keen and among those touted in ballet circles as prospective candidates were American Ballet Theatre's Kevin McKenzie, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Twyla Tharp, the Birmingham Royal Ballet's David Bintley, Sylvie Guillem and Irek Mukhamedov. Stretton was rarely mentioned. The lanky, personable Australian is not unknown in the Opera House, though. Australian colleague Gailene Stock was appointed director of the Royal Ballet School last year following the retirement of Dame Merle Park, and Stretton had been best man at her wedding some years back. The Royal's chief executive, Michael Kaiser, has known him since they worked together at ABT, where Kaiser was executive director and Stretton was a dancer and then assistant director.

Stretton said he admired Dowell's directorship of the Royal Ballet, especially during the recent challenging years when the company was homeless and under fire from critics. But the time has come, he added, when the RB needs to be motivated and moved on. "I last saw the company perform when they were in New York," he continued, "but I'm acquainted with several, like Darcey [Bussell], who was a guest with Australian Ballet, and Sylvie [Guillem], who came to ABT when I was there. I've watched them in class today, but obviously it will take time to reassess what I want to do. Classical ballet worldwide needs revitalizing if it is to [have] a future. Dancers are a different breed today and they are hungry for new choreography. There are many wonderful choreographers out there--Kylian, Bejart, Duato, Preljocaj--and I think the Royal would do well in their works. But I recognize that it is also vitally important to nurture and support homegrown choreographic talent, something which has been done successfully in Australia.

"I'm a hands-on director. I feel it is important to be in the studio at class and rehearsals, but I also see the need to step back and assess the company's direction away from the stage. It's important to be involved with the vision of the company in all departments--how the company's image is represented by press, marketing, advertising, corporate funding, et cetera. The ballet company should be equal to the opera in every way."

With tales of the Royal's backstage hierarchy in mind, Stretton is determined to be his own master. "I must have the ability to make things happen," he said. "The chairman of the board [Colin Southgate] has given me tremendous support so far, and I'll certainly need it when I take over the job if I am to motivate the company to build on and develop the classical and twentieth-century masterpieces and to experiment with new, contemporary choreography. But it's a very exciting prospect."