Glass ceilings are never easy to break, particularly when wearing a tutu and dancing en pointe.

Ballet choreography continues to be dominated by men despite the best efforts of the national ballet company to encourage more women into artistic leadership positions.

Clan four: Bangarra dancers (from left) Tara Gower, Jasmin Sheppard, Deborah Brown and Yolande Brown. Credit:Steven Siewert

The lack of female choreographers prompted the new artistic director of the English National Ballet, Tamara Rojo, to compare ballet to pornography.

"Very often we see relationships approached from a male perspective. Like in porn, it shapes the way you look at things," she told Time Out magazine.