During the past few years it has seen an industrial revival as great as any other region of the UK. The principal growth areas are now light manufacturing and electronics. Firms investing in the region include household names: Samsung, Fujitsu, Caterpillar and, most recently, Siemens. The region bordered by the rivers Tyne and Tees was once famous for its ships and its steel.

More recently, though, it has become known for depression and unemployment. “I’m combining new work with old so that the risk is dissipated,” Bruce says. “I’ll do things this way until the audience is really with us, a solid audience. Until then we can hedge.” Tight funding may have made him circumspect but whether they are dancing old work or new, Bruce is determined that his company display “humour and humanity and convey the sheer joy and exhilaration of movement. That is what Marie Rambert loved and that’s why she would have loved this present company.”n ‘Rambert’, London Coliseum, 9-13 July (0171-632 8300). Royal Ballet mixed programme, Royal Opera House, London WC2, 25, 26, 29 July (0171- 304 4000).

If anywhere in the UK is associated with “smokestack” heavy industry – and its decline – it is the North-east. “It’s so valuable to have a work like that but you do have to be so careful it doesn’t become a millstone.” That point hasn’t yet been reached with Rambert’s current favourites, and both Rooster and Swansong are on offer next week – in tandem with new work For the time being this is the wisest strategy. Because if you play it too much, it can be the kiss of death.” Even Cooper knows that focusing on purely commercial considerations can be dangerously short-sighted and is very anxious that golden geese like the Christmas hit Tales of Beatrix Potter are given a rest.Christopher Bruce shares these fears for Rambert and is concerned that Rooster shouldn’t be done to death. We have much more active promotions here than people realise.”A well-targeted mailshot may help to fill the house but what sold yesterday does not automatically sell tomorrow. Monica Mason knows that a work’s popularity can never be guaranteed. “At one time we used to think that Dances at a Gathering was a sure-fire hit, but you have to discover exactly when it’s the moment to say ‘Enough’s enough’. “That’s something that one dreads most of all.”Selling a pig in a poke is no easy task either.