It’s been 15 months since Monica Mason took over as head of London’s Royal Ballet after Ross Stretton was fired after only a year on the job. “What is remarkable is that Mason’s honeymoon period seems still to be continuing. People at Covent Garden speak of her with respect, often love. This is the way she talks about the company – as something greater than herself that she wishes to serve. And yet she is a forceful presence: a woman of purpose.”