Ross Stretton

Ross Stretton (born June 6, 1952 in Canberra , † June 16, 2005 in Melbourne ) was a ballet dancer and choreographer .

Life

Ross Stretton began his dance career as a tap dancer . As a child he won numerous prizes. At the age of 17 he turned to classical ballet . In 1971 he successfully applied to the Australian Ballet School. After graduating, he danced for the Australian Ballet until 1979 . Other stations in his career were the Joffrey Theater , the Northern Ballet Theater in Manchester and the American Ballet Theater . He ended his career as a dancer in 1990. He subsequently worked as a director and, from 1993, as deputy director for the American Ballet Theater. After becoming Artistic Director of the Australian Ballet in 1997, he expanded the repertoire to include contemporary works such as those by James Kudelka , Twyla Tharp and William Forsythe .

In September 2001 he took over the position of Artistic Director of the Royal Ballet in London , from which he retired a year later.