JUST DIFFERENT: A Memoir

Wayne Sleep starts his memoir in typically flamboyant style, giving a tea party for Princess Diana, his near neighbour in Kensington. Wayne struggled to afford his well-located flat and served the Princess's tea on a sheet of glass supported by breeze blocks. They were both outsiders, she as a modern girl in an ancient institution and Wayne as a working class boy in the iconic Royal Ballet, where he was the shortest principal dancer. As the child of a single mother, he was devastated at the age of eight to uproot from Devon to Hartlepool to join his stepfather, who luckily was willing to pay for Wayne's dance classes. Often overlooked at school, at the age of 12 he was awarded a scholarship with the Royal Ballet, one of five males in a class of 21. Here he started his professional career with an opportunity to perform with the Bolshoi Ballet and the great Vasiliev. Little did he realise that in the future he would share a stage with Nureyev, whom he first saw rehearsing Giselle with Fonteyn in 1962 and who later made a pass at him. Wayne avoided coming out as gay, though he joined the camp set and was introduced to his first long-term partner by David Hockney. Wayne's lack of height was an anxiety but it led to his big break in 1965 when he was asked to play a diminutive Napoleon in Frederick Ashton's Cinderella, and with money in his pocket he became a natty dresser. Pressures in the company were severe but Wayne was determined to succeed and finally created his signature role as Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream, with Nureyev's Nutcracker following. When he started to move into light entertainment some classical colleagues disapproved, but Wayne went on to star with Judi Dench in Cats and is also pictured here with icons such as Freddie Mercury, Elton John, Princess Margaret and of course Princess Diana. 322p, colour and mono photos from the author's own collection, many with astounding balletic leaps. Remainder mark.