Wayne Sleep has lived an action-packed life among the great and the good of his generation. He danced with ballet legends Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn, partied with Freddie Mercury, performed with Princess Diana, becoming her close friend, and found himself a much-loved household name when he moved into popular dance and took the starring role in the original production of Cats. Dame Ninette de Valois, founder of the Royal Ballet, described him as 'the greatest virtuoso dancer the Royal Ballet has ever produced'. And David Hockney's painting of him now hangs in the Tate Gallery.
But behind the glitz and glamour of his successful career Wayne has always felt like an outsider. In this moving - but also laugh out loud and gossip filled - memoir, Sleep reveals the difficulties for a working-class, gay man in handling the prejudices of his generation and living through the Aids epidemic. Wayne had already overcome being the shortest principal dancer in the Royal Ballet - having to spin twice as fast and jump twice as high to succeed. One outsider always recognises another as Wayne did in Nureyev, Freddie Mercury and Princess Diana. They knew the handicaps, but also made it their strength.
This is the inspiring story of how Wayne Sleep danced his way to success, fulfilment and love, and how he overcame obstacles and prejudice along the way.
Wayne Sleep won a scholarship to the Royal Ballet School in 1961 and joined the Royal Ballet Company in 1966, becoming a Senior Principal Dancer. He has also worked as an actor, including in musical theatre, and as a choreographer he created, directed and appeared in DASH, which for the first time incorporated all genres (including ballet, jazz, tap, and contemporary). He was appointed OBE in 1998 and is the patron of a number of charities. He lives in London and has two entries in the Guinness Book of Records.
