The Rebirth of the Royal Ballet

The establishment of the Alexander Thorne Foundation for Performing Arts had sent shockwaves of hope through the British cultural establishment. For decades, classical dance in London had been an exclusive preserve of aristocratic privilege, where tuition fees and boarding costs at elite academies shut out thousands of gifted young artists. Under Vivienne’s visionary direction and Christian’s multi-million-pound endowment, that barrier was permanently demolished. The foundation had constructed a state-of-the-art residential…