“Being a ballet dancer, you’re trained to be incredibly critical of yourself – you work extensively on all of your physical imperfections”

HOW DID YOU GET INTO DANCE?

Well I started because my best mate as a child used to go off and do classes on a Saturday morning, and when I asked my mother she said he was going to ballet classes, and at that age – I was 4, at the time – you just don’t think about it, so I started going and that’s where it all began.

WHAT KIND OF MUSIC TAKES YOUR INTEREST?

Recently, I’m listening to a lot of Muse and danced to Muse in my solo. I’m not such a fan of dance music though.

WHAT’S YOUR BIGGEST DANCING FEAR?

It would have to be falling over, especially from a leap. The thing about leaping, in ballet, is that from the top of the jump you know if it’s going wrong, you can feel it in your balance. It’s scary, you can feel your heart stop for a second.

ON STAGE, WHAT’S BEEN THE MOST EMBARRASSING MOMENT?

Ha! I was once performing Tosca at the Royal Opera House and at the end of the play Tosca’s lover gets shot. Well I had to lead the march across the stage with 16 steps, stop, turn, raise our muskets and shoot Tosca’s lover. I was fine up until the final show, which was broadcast live, when I only took 14 steps and threw the entire rest of the firing squad behind me off their steps. I just died!

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE TYPE OF DANCE?

Morris Dancing, obviously! Joke – when you do ballet, it really has to be a love and a passion. I love watching the body poppers, it’s fascinating and I could watch it all day, but to see something pure as a ballet dancer you can see the grace of it all, and when they take off they really fly. I find that beautiful.

WHY DID YOU ENTER THIS COMPETITION?

Because my girlfriend told me to!

BBC

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