Whatever the answer, ballet has certainly become much more fluidly globalised than it was 20 years ago, and the old concept of loyalty to a home company or family – for example, the Royal Ballet’s former ballerina and director Dame Monica Mason, who stayed put at Covent Garden for over 50 years – is a thing of the past as top dancers move fast in search of money and status, becoming more and more like "guest" opera stars in the way in which they conduct their careers.