Artistic chief berates Royal Ballet from beyond

A former artistic director of the Royal Ballet has hit out at the company from beyond the grave.

Australian Ross Stretton, who died three years ago aged 53, had a disastrous year at Covent Garden after starting in 2001. In a recording which has just come to light, he accuses the management of a relentless pursuit to make him leave and of sabotaging his productions. The interview was recorded by the National Library of Australia in 2003, to be kept under wraps for 40 years.

But when Mr Stretton was diagnosed with cancer he said the transcript should be released three years after his death. In the interview he talks of a "gay push" against him, according to the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper. He also claims Royal Ballet bosses hated him because they perceived him to be a "colonial". Mr Stretton sparked rumours that he was sexually involved with protégées when he replaced some dancers - whom he called "dead wood" - with younger rivals. He says in the interview: "I promoted nine dancers, young dancers, and that's when I think the 's' hit the fan." He accuses the company of sabotaging his staging of the Queen's Golden Jubilee Gala by giving him only one day to prepare. He says: " The whole thing technically fell apart. It was a disaster." By the end of his tenure "there was bad blood all over the place", he adds.

The Royal Opera House said: "This is Ross Stretton's version of events surrounding his brief tenure, which regrettably came to a sad end."