DANCE

Royal Ballet Cancels U.S. Tour: The Royal Ballet of Great Britain has dropped plans to tour the United States in July and August, citing inability to raise adequate funding. The tour, originally scheduled for August, was to have included the Orange County Performing Arts Center as the last of three stops. The tour would have begun in New York and then moved to Washington. The Royal Ballet last visited Southern California in 1979. Meanwhile, Britain’s ballet dancers are having problems at home too--both the Royal Ballet and the Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet are threatening to strike over pay and working conditions, raising the prospect of a picket line outside the venerable Royal Opera House in London’s Covent Garden. The dispute has dragged on since July and now threatens the cancellation of three ballets. According to Royal Opera administrator Richard Wright, a revised offer will be made today to the 136 dancers involved.