What would have happened if Rudolf Nureyev had become head of London’s Royal Ballet? Nureyev wanted the job, and Royal managing director John Tooley talked with him. “The Royal Ballet needed a new director in the mid-Seventies and approached Nureyev. Tooley remembers several discussions with him, in which Nureyev finally said that he would like the job but would also need to continue dancing. He never made any secret of his need to be on stage, but he also needed a fall-back if he proved unsuited to directing. Tooley answered that if Nureyev continued dancing to the extent he wanted, this simply wouldn’t meet the company’s needs. End of negotiations.”