WCXX

Back at the Royal Opera House, members of the corps de ballet appealed to their union after the relentless schedule of rehearsals left them feeling near breaking point.

The union, Equity, held a meeting with management and as a result the company is instituting a compulsory hour-long lunch break in order to give the dancers time to eat and rest.

"Concerns were expressed by members of the Royal Ballet about their current programme of work," an Equity spokesman said. "They have a very busy programme and they felt under pressure, and we had to address that.

"We asked the dancers if they were prepared to work to rule and they said yes. But there was no requirement to do that because the problem has now been solved. We sat down with management yesterday and came up with a new schedule that everyone is happy with."

A spokesman for the Royal Opera House said Christmas was traditionally a busy period, and the situation had been exacerbated by illness and injury among the ranks.

"It has been pretty tough on the corps de ballet. There is a heavy schedule at this time of year and illness or injury meant dancers have had to fill in. There has also been quite a lot of new work which obviously takes more time to learn," the spokesman said.

"Until now the lunch break has been fairly fluid, with dancers rehearsing different ballets and breaking at different times. But we have agreed to have a fixed break-time which everybody will adhere to.

"Dancers will go into the day now knowing that at one o'clock they will have an hour of rest."

By most accounts, O'Hare is a well-liked figure at the Royal Opera House, yet sources say the atmosphere is troubled.

Trzensimiech had been touted as an eventual successor to Sergei Polunin, who shocked the world of dance when he abruptly left the Royal Ballet in 2012.

He complained of finding the endless rehearsals boring and said he felt stifled creatively. Polunin, regarded as something of a 'bad boy' with his penchant for partying and tattoos, was reprimanded by Royal Ballet chiefs for posting a jokey tweet about drug-taking. He later confessed to being "scared" of Dame Monica Mason, then head of the company.

And Trzensimiech's choice of the National Romanian Ballet is significant. His new director in Bucharest will be Johan Kobborg, the former Royal Ballet star who left last year with a very public swipe at his Covent Garden bosses.

Kobborg said he was reduced to tears by the lack of recognition from his employers after 13 years as a principal dancer. Posting on Facebook after his final performance in a Tokyo touring production of Swan Lake, he wrote: "After curtain down… my boss stuck his head in through the door, said well done, asked how I felt, and not to be a stranger in the future. Then left, not a single hug or even a handshake.

"Considering I am leaving on good terms… I can only imagine how people leaving because of arguments would have their send-off.

"Thank you RB management for some beautiful times over the last decade, may I never (dancers excluded) have to ever meet you again."

Kobborg's on- and off-stage partner, Alina Cojocaru, followed him out the door. She joined Tamara Rojo, who had also left the Royal Ballet to take up the artistic directorship of the rival English National Ballet.

Cojocaru recently told The Telegraph of her unhappiness at the Royal Ballet. "After 13 years of giving everything you have, you must either be happy to just do your job and go home – or go forward, find another place. I had to leave."

She added: "I will be always grateful for all the good experiences – and even for the terrible ones, for all the lies and truths told to me or about me. They all made me learn about who I am and what I treasure."

The Royal Ballet confirmed that Trzensimiech was leaving the company. A spokesman said: "We understand he has been offered a contract as a principal dancer in Romania. He is a soloist here so that is a considerable elevation in position."