Wayne Sleep

Wayne was born in Plymouth, but when he was about 7 his family moved to Hartlepool, where he went to the Muriel Carr School of Dancing, which was situated above a cycle shop. As a boy he wanted to be a song-and-dance man like Gene Kelly and entered the children's section of a song-and-dance competition at the Middlesborough Tournament, singing '5' 2" Eyes of Blue' and winning the cup for the highest marks in the children's section. But on the dance side the adjudicator told him he must learn ballet as he tapped with his feet turned out like a ballet dancer. He won a scholarship which gave him two free lessons a week at the Royal Academy of Dance in Newcastle Upon Tyne, but by the time his train fares were paid they weren't exactly free, and his working-class family--his father was a process worker at the Steetley Magnesite Company--had to be careful with their money. When he was 12 and a pupil at West Hartlepool Tech, out of 500 entrants he won a scholarship to the Royal Ballet School by default as he missed the height test, which wasn't discovered until after he was granted the scholarship. He graduated in 1966 with a performance of 'Blue Boy' on 'Les Patineurs' and became a principal dancer with the Royal Ballet in 1973, performing in over 50 roles including some created for him by Frederick Ashton and Rudolph Nureyev. He began diversifying acting on stage and television and in films, choreographing ballets, and appearing in pantomime with Danny La Rue at the London Palladium. He won rave reviews in the stage musicals of 'Cats' and 'Song and Dance', played the Emcee in Gillian Lynne's production of 'Cabaret' in the West End, and won a Golden Rose Award for his 'Dizzy Feet' television show, and with his own company of dancers and musicians he did a three-month, 10-city tour with 'Dash.' He has topped the bill in over 16 pantomimes and devised and directed many productions and charity galas including Carnival of the Birds, Design for Dance, 90 years of... , Stars of the Night, 50 Wonks at Wayne Sleep, Birthday Offering (for Princess Margaret), and D.B.E. (for Dame Beryl Grey). His own choreographic works include 'David and Goliath', 'Savoy Suite', 'A Soldiers Tale', The Hot Shoe Show', 'Wonderland', 'Cinderella and Toad' (Wind in the Willows), 'Wizard of Oz', 'Salad Days', 'Roll Over', 'Carousel', 'World of Classical Ballet', 'History of Dance', and 'Hollywood and Broadway'. He arranged the dance sequence for the film 'Death on the Nile' and formed his own dance company, DASH, which did many seasons in London's West End, then returned to London after a world tour. As an actor he's appeared in 'The Tempest', 'The Servant of Two Masters', 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' as Puck, 'The Soldier's Tale', and the films 'The First Great Train Robbery' and 'The Tales of Beatrix Potter'. He has two entries in the Guinness Book of Records', was Show Business Personality of the Year in 1984, has been the subject of 'This is Your Life' and 'The South Bank Show'; he's received honorary degrees from the Universities of Exeter and Teeside, and is patron of the South West region of the Royal Academy of Dance, the British Ballet Organisation, and other institutions. He's written 'Variations on Wayne Sleep' and 'Precious Little Sleep' and has set up a charity, 'The Wayne Sleep Dance Scholarship' to help aspiring dancers with their tuition