On the Road: Lord of the Dance

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Wayne Sleep has been dancing for over 70 years. He tells Louise Flind about witchy Princess Diana and what Nureyev called the hardest dance move

Is there anything you can’t leave home without?

Definitely music– anything classical. I need to go to sleep.

Do you travel light?

If my husband could get four suitcases on a plane, he would. I’m minimal because I’ve toured the world.

What’s your favourite destination?

Performing in Japan, and India, when I did The Real Marigold Hotel.

What are your earliest childhood holiday memories?

I used to eat raw potatoes when we went camping on Dartmoor.

Did you dance as a child?

I entertained when I was still crawling. When I was three, at my auntie’s wedding, I found a stage for the first time in my life. My cousin Barry and I found a basket full of props and wigs and I put on a plaited wig and sang A Mother’s Lament (Your Baby Has Gone Down the Plughole).

When I was five, I joined lots of girls and two boys in a dance class. Then we moved up to the North East, and I continued my classes there. And I saw my first film with Gene Kelly, Singin’ in the Rain.

Were any of your family dancers?

My mother had a wonderful soprano voice.

Did you always want to do ballet?

I wanted to be Gene Kelly.

Did anyone try and put you off, saying you weren’t tall enough?

My mother tried to put me off! ‘We don’t mind a song-and-dance man, but a ballet dancer – no way for a boy.’ I was the same size as everybody else when I was eight.

And later on?

None of their f***ing business...

What was your first big break?

Getting a scholarship to the Royal Ballet School when I was 12.

Which company did you most enjoy working with?

The Royal Ballet. Sir Frederick Ashton and Kenneth MacMillan choreographed parts for me – what a thrill.

What was Princess Diana like when you danced with her?

Witchy, fun, furious, shy... but, when on, she just lit up like a spotlight.

What’s the hardest move to do in ballet?

Mikhail Baryshnikov had just defected from Russia, and came to London to guest artist at the Royal Ballet. I befriended him and, as a thank-you, he taught me a step. It was double the amount of the air you do when you split your legs going round the stage, but he added to go up in the air, and rise even higher to flip again and do another turn.

A lot of people can do it now but nobody except me and him could do it then. Rudolph Nureyev named it a double motherf***er.

Who was the greatest dancer you ever saw or danced with?

Baryshnikov could do any style. Rudolph was a spectacle in himself.

Who was your favourite dance partner?

Diana, and Lesley Collier with the Royal Ballet.

How have you coped with injuries?

If you’re rehearsing a new ballet, you get a repetitive strain and that’s what does it. I had a total hip replacement. I went on tour with Cabaret, where I didn’t have to dance much, but it got so bad, I was arrested when I was walking to the matinée. This Black Maria stopped, and the policemen said, ‘Are you all right, sir?’ and tried to smell my breath [he cackles]. When they knew who I was, they gave me a police escort to the stage door.

What have been the highlights of your career?

I just thank God every day that I’m still here, and I’ve got so much to give still. I’m going to do a one-man show at some small theatres in London, which I’m putting together at the moment.

And the lowlights?

When my mum got separated from me because she became a Jehovah’s Witness and wanted me to join and I wouldn’t.

You’ve danced, acted and choreographed. What do you see yourself as?

An entertainer.

At 76, do you still dance?

I do tap at the end of An Audience with Wayne Sleep.

Do you miss ballet?

No. I was in the Royal Ballet 18 years.

Do you identify with Billy Elliot?

Yes, very much so. Lee Hall said that he’d read my first biography to get ideas for Billy Elliot.

Where did you go on your honeymoon?

I was on tour with Cabaret. But we go to Spain a lot to see José’s family. I love Granada. I love flamenco.