Leaders of some of the world’s leading ballet companies have issued a statement calling for reforms – new emphasis on “solid training in basic ballet skills, renewed focus on nurturing choreographers and a coaxing of audiences into accepting contemporary work are vital to the future of ballet. ‘There is a crisis about training young dancers. We are all worried about the ballet schools, how to have more of a dialogue. Schools have become like companies – which provides good experience for students, but at the expense of properly completing their training. There are some people who cannot do the mazurka, the czardas, the polonaise’.”