Anthony Russell-Roberts CBE
Tuesday 18th October 2005
Friends House, Euston Road, London NW1

We were delighted to welcome our distinguished guest, Anthony Russell-Roberts, Administrative Director of the Royal Ballet. Michael Ludgate introduced Mr Russell-Roberts and conducted the interview. Anthony has been at the Royal Opera House for almost 30 years (apart from 3 years at the Paris Opera) and has been Administrative Director of the Royal Ballet for 20 years.

Anthony began by telling us that he had been interested in the arts ever since he was a child. He learnt poetry by heart, visited galleries and painted pictures himself, and listened to music.
Though he loved the arts, he came to realise it was not possible to earn a living as a practitioner, so he became a businessman instead. After Oxford he embarked on a very successful business career and developed his managerial skills in the commercial world. However, he still remained drawn to the world of the arts and decided to go to Glyndebourne to learn theatre-craft. From there he went on to Kent Opera, and later was offered the position of personal assistant to John Tooley, then General Director of the Royal Opera House. During this period Anthony was interested in becoming an opera producer and when the opportunity arose to go to Paris as Artistic Administrator of the Paris Opera he decided to take that opportunity. He described his time at the Paris Opera as exhilarating and exciting. It was a job which involved casting and artistic decisions as well as dealing with unions and finances. However, he was then offered the job of Administrative Director (a new position) of the Royal Ballet in the early 1970s and decided to return to London and the Royal Opera House, where he has been ever since.

Anthony then told us what being Administrative Director means; a job which has evolved with the changes and developments in theatre management over the years. In the overall running of the artistic and administrative sides of the Royal Ballet, his work includes financial management, dealing with the Arts Council and budgetary controls. As well as financial matters, he particularly enjoys participation in artistic planning. He described the responsibilities of the group of four who guide and develop the Royal Ballet; Monica Mason, Jeanetta Lawrence, Kevin O'Hare and himself, all strong personalities who work as team with mutual trust. He also attends as many stage calls as possible, and makes a point, as far as possible, of seeing every cast at least once. He outlined how these important areas of management work and his own contribution. He described his typical working day as "very varied" and finds that he doesn't mind the pressure and enjoys the challenges.

After hearing Anthony tell us about his very busy working day, Michael asked him how he relaxed. Anthony said that he is one of those lucky people who can switch off completely once he gets home and can keep his business and home life in separate compartments. He loves the countryside and travel and has a home to escape to in France. He also listens to a wide range of music from extreme contemporary to baroque. He has the support of his wife and family and spends much time with them. He loves gardening and trying to cultivate the hard soil in the South of France. He is especially fond of old fashioned roses and has about 750 of them and cannot resist studying rose catalogues to acquire even more.
The interview then moved on to Frederick Ashton's ballets and the celebration of his centenary at the Royal Opera House. Anthony spoke about the plan to revive "Sylvia" at this particular time and how decisions were arrived at as to which ballets were suitable for revival. Anthony pointed out that a very large number of Ashton ballets are in the active repertoire, and that there were not many more that were capable of being revived. He then spoke of the special qualities in Ashton's choreography, and the difference in style of Ashton and MacMillan. He stressed how important it was for the younger members of the Company, who had never known Ashton, to become familiar
with his work.

Anthony then described the Ashton Trust administration, as compared to the Balanchine Trust. The Ashton Trust is organised in a different way in that Ashton bequeathed his ballets to individual friends, who are all concerned in preserving the ballets and in working together to uphold the quality of the works. The plans for the 75th anniversary of the Royal Ballet are progressing and the main celebratory event will be the production of the Sergeyev 1946 "Sleeping Beauty" with the Oliver Messel designs updated by Peter Farmer. Other revivals of important ballets from the heritage repertoire are also being worked on, and we all look forward to this great anniversary celebration.

Following questions from the floor, Anthony discussed the Royal Ballet's contact with the public, the wonderful facilities in the new Opera House (especially the floor areas of the studios), possible visits from overseas companies, reasons for revival or non-revival of particular works, relations between opera and ballet companies, plans for new works by contemporary choreographers, official recognition of Sir Frederick Ashton on programme, choice of music, the lighting of ballets, suitability (or not) of new designs for well loved ballets, and many other topics.

Michael thanked Anthony for giving his valuable time to spend an evening with us, and especially for being so open and frank in answering members' questions. He was presented with a gift from members and once again we all thanked him for a wonderful evening.