Wayne Sleep
| Wayne Sleep OBE |
|
|---|---|
| Born |
Wayne Philip Colin Sleep 17 July 1948 (age 68) Plymouth, Devon, England |
| Occupation | Dancer, director, choreographer |
| Years active | 1966–present |
| Website | Official website |
Wayne Philip Colin Sleep OBE (born 17 July 1948) is a British dancer, director, choreographer, actor and panellist. He was a Principal Dancer with the Royal Ballet and has appeared as a Guest Artist with several other ballet companies. He was a judge on the ITV entertainment series Stepping Out.
Sleep was born in Plymouth, Devon. He and his family moved to Hartlepool ca. 1951 and spent ten years there. He lived at Friar Terrace on the Headland and Wayne attended Baltic Street Junior School. Although musical as a child – he was also a choirboy at St Hilda's Church – he was happiest when dancing, and began dancing lessons in Hartlepool in 1955 with Muriel Carr, before gaining a Leverhulme Scholarship to the Royal Ballet School in 1961 and joining the Royal Ballet in 1966.
At only 5'2", Sleep is famous for being the shortest male dancer ever admitted into the Royal Ballet School. Had he not left his audition for the school early and missed his final physical examination, he would not have gained a place. Because of his diminutive stature many directors were reluctant to cast him in traditional male lead roles. As a result, many roles were created for him by noted choreographers including Ashton, MacMillan, de Valois, Layton, Nureyev and Neumeier. Sleep is often chosen for character roles because of his unusual physique. In 1982, Andrew Lloyd Webber adapted his Variations album as the second half of stage show Song and Dance for Sleep. Sleep created the role of Mr. Mistoffelees in Lloyd Webber's musical Cats in London's West End, at the New London Theatre, on 11 May 1981.
...
Wikipedia