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Wayne Sleep

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Wayne Sleep OBE (born July 17, 1948), Plymouth, Devon, England; is an English dancer, director and choreographer. He was a Principal Dancer with the Royal Ballet and has appeared as a Guest Artist with several other ballet companies. He started studying 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 not 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 due to his unusual physique. In 1982, Andrew Lloyd Webber adapted his Variations album as the second half of stage show Song and Dance for Sleep. In 1973, Sleep established a world record by doing an entrechat douze - a jump with six beats - this record still stands to this day. As well as dancing, Sleep also acts and his credits include Tigger in Winnie the Pooh and Villiers in Soldiers. He also appeared, as himself, in The Goodies episode "Football Crazy". Sleep's choreography credits include David and Goliath. Sleep is remembered for dancing with Princess Diana at the Royal Gala Performance, in Covent Garden in 1985. In 2003, Wayne appeared in the reality TV series, I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!. In the 2005/06 pantomime season, Sleep appeared in Beauty and the Beast at the Theatre Royal, Windsor. Sleep recently completed a tour of Magic of the Musicals with Marti Webb and Robert Meadmore, as well as appearing as a judge on BBC One's Strictly Dance Fever. Wayne Sleep has worked with the British Shakespeare Company on three successful occasions, playing Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream twice (most recently on a national tour in 2006), as well as Feste in Twelfth Night. Sleep runs workshops all over the country that children of 6+ can attend. He is currently appearing as Uncle Willy in a performance of High Society which is touring around England.