When The Royal Ballet paid a return visit to the Bermuda Festival last week, included in the company was one of the world's leading classical ballet dancers of the 20th Century: Wayne Sleep, OBE. From early childhood he had demonstrated an exceptional talent which Britain's Royal Ballet School nurtured to perfection. Joining The Royal Ballet in 1966 he quickly became a principal dancer for whom some of the greatest choreographers created specific roles. A star in his own right, he also shared the stage with such legends as Fonteyn and Nureyev, and made history when he danced with Diana, Princess of Wales at London's Royal Opera House. Mr. Sleep has led - and continues to lead - a remarkable and varied life in dance, theatre, radio, television and films as Lifestyle's Nancy Acton discovered.

The adage, ‘Good things come in small packages' fits British dancer, actor and choreographer Wayne Sleep like a pair of tights. What he lacks in stature is more than compensated for by his artistry, incredible talent and drive. Indeed, the resum? of his accomplishments is long, and he is even listed in the Guinness Book of Records - twice, for record-breaking ballet steps.

A charming character with a ready wit, Mr. Sleep fair fizzes as he submits to the Lifestyle interview. While time is of the essence, he compresses the salient points of his glittering career clearly and concisely without a hint of urgency, and seasons his dialogue with wicked laughter.

Although he no longer dances classical ballet - “too old, it really is a young person's game” - he remains a very active jazz and tap artist.

For years, whenever the name of this former Royal Ballet principal dancer appeared in lights, sell-out performances were sure to follow. Indeed, he shared its famed London stage with some of the greatest names in ballet, Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev among them, and roles were created especially for him.

Despite all the accolades and adulation, however, Wayne Sleep remains a very down-to-earth, approachable man.

Like so many stars of the arts firmament, his destiny as a dancer was precast in early childhood when his immediate response to music was to perform and, as so many families without money did, the Sleeps made up their own entertainment at home. His stage “debut” came at the age of four, when he gave an extended, impromptu performance at a relative's wedding, following which his parents were urged to give him formal lessons. Little Wayne was duly enrolled in the local dance school in his native Plymouth, and promptly “caught the bug”.

“I couldn't wait to get on the stage to perform,” Mr. Sleep recalls. “Then we moved to the north of England and I went in for all these competitions for under-12's. When I was eight a woman said, ‘You must learn classical ballet' because my feet turned out like Charlie Chaplin. You have to be born with that facility.” The adjudicator said, ‘Where is that little boy's mother? She must put him in ballet classes'.”

In an age when it was considered very unmanly to be a ballet dancer, Mrs. Sleep duly cringed at the thought.

“It wasn't in our family tradition,” her son says discreetly.

Nonetheless, the lad began ballet training and, in his words, “it became more like a science - to achieve the next step or move, and more cerebral than just flinging yourself about in tap shoes”.

By the age of 12 young Wayne had won the Leverhulme Scholarship to the Royal Ballet School - one of only two successful applicants out of 400.

“It was good because it got me away from the bullying in my local school, and put me with people who had the same goal in life: to achieve success in the ballet world,” the dancer says.

If that was one trade-off, there was also another: because it would develop the wrong muscles, Mr. Sleep had to discontinue jazz and tap classes.

The star-to-be progressed superbly, and in 1966 joined The Royal Ballet. In 1973 he became a principal dancer, for whom roles were especially created by such great choreographers as Sir Frederick Ashton, Sir Kenneth MacMillan, Dame Ninette de Valois and Rudolf Nureyev, to name a few.

Today, it would take pages to cover just the highlights of Mr. Sleep's stellar career as a dancer, which include touring “all over the world” with the famous partnerships, Fonteyn and Nureyev, and Sibley and Dowell.

Naturally, he has an infinite store of memories of those glory days on which to draw.

Nureyev is remembered as someone who blew hot and cold. “He could be very mischievous, very temperamental, or even very kind and invite you to dinner. It was never dull.”

Dame Margot, on the other hand, was exactly the opposite. “She always behaved magnificently. I never heard her swear or get angry. She let Nureyev do all the shouting.”

At the end of any performance in which the famous duo appeared, Mr. Sleep remembers the curtain calls as akin to being in a war zone. Before throwing flowers, fans would incorporate stones in the wrapping so that they would successfully travel the distance onto the stage.

“It was like Wembley stadium, the flowers would hit us like thousands of missiles,” he remembers.

Mr. Sleep not only knew several members of the British Royal family well, but also was involved in planning special dance galas for them, including the late Queen Mother's 80th birthday. For one, ‘90 Years of Dance', Princess Margaret demanded inclusion of the ‘Palais Glide' - something, not surprisingly perhaps, of which the classical ballet dancer had never heard. When word of this got back to HRH, Mr. Sleep received a call.

“Hello, this is Margaret here,” the voice said.

“Margaret who?” was his response.

“Princess Margaret. I hear your dance education is not complete. Come to the Palace tomorrow morning,” she commanded. Thus did Mr. Sleep learn the Palais Glide.

He enjoyed a close friendship with Diana, Princess of Wales, a highlight of which was dancing with her on the stage of the Royal Opera House in London before an audience of 2500, including Prince Charles. Since it was to be a surprise for her husband, only her lady-in-waiting was privy to the extremely well-guarded secret.

“If anybody had found out we wouldn't have been able to do it,” Mr. Sleep says.

It was well known that the Princess was an excellent dancer. Even so, she was extremely nervous of public reaction because she was going to do something that Royalty did not do, and in the presence of her unsuspecting husband, whose reaction could have been disastrous.

The Princess chose Billy Joell's ‘Uptown Girl', a jazz number, which she and her professional partner practised to perfection. Part of their routine included Mr. Sleep lifting her across the stage, during which he secretly prayed that he wouldn't drop her.

“She was excitedly nervous,” Mr. Sleep says. “After the performance she was a bit scared and made me come with her to rejoin her husband because then he couldn't be anything but charming. I don't know what happened when they got home, mind you.”

The friendship between the Princess and the dancer continued, and in the early days of her marriage they sometimes went out to dinner together.

“She was quite lonely,” Mr. Sleep remembers. “In terms of her dancing she was very professional. My dance captain taught her ballet. When she was out in public it was as if she was on stage. She played it 100 percent. She was charming, amusing, funny....she would look very straight at people and then whisper something in my ear and I would struggle not to laugh. She almost liked to play schoolgirl pranks.”

In addition to choreographing works for many dance companies, including London Contemporary Dance, the San Francisco Ballet, the English National Ballet, and the National Youth Ballet (of Britain), Mr. Sleep also choreographed for BBC television, as well as the dance sequence for the film ‘Death on the Nile'.

Among his film roles, he danced two characters in the ballet film, ‘The Tales of Beatrix Potter': Squirrel Nutkin, and one of the two bad mice. Of the former he says: “It was a nightmare. My costume weighed 20 lbs. because it was made of fur attached to net. Because there were no holes in the eyes of the headpiece, I could only see through the mouth, so I had to focus on a red light (to stay in camera range).”

Mr. Sleep went on to form his own dance company, DASH, with which he toured the world.

Today, being “too old” for the rigourous demands of classical ballet allows him to do more of what he once had to give up: jazz and tap. As always, however, dance is not the only string to the bow of this multi-talented artist.

He is also an accomplished actor who has appeared on stage, television and radio in a host of fine roles, ranging from Shakespeare to dance and comedy, and starred in the original productions of Andrew Lloyd Webber's smash hits, ‘Cats' and ‘Song and Dance', as well as in ‘Cabaret' in London's famed West End.

As an author he has written two books, including his autobiography; and has also established a registered charity, The Wayne Sleep Dance Scholarship, to assist aspiring young dancers with their tuition fees. In addition, he conducts workshops worldwide. The holder of two honorary degrees from the universities of Exeter and Teeside, he is patron of the British Ballet Organisation, and was appointed an OBE in 1998.

Future plans include doing more choreography, as well as acting and musical theatre.

“When a performance goes well, there is no feeling like it in the world, that's what keeps me going,” the indefatigable Mr. Sleep says.

He is presently involved in adapting a novel into a play which will be handed over to the National Theatre for production - and, of course, continues to help arrange special gala nights.

Asked what advice he might give aspiring young dancers, Mr. Sleep responds: “Keep at it. Don't get disillusioned. It is a very hard profession, and even if you don't become a dancer you can become a teacher, or something to do with teaching. Dance is a very good discipline and a great training. It makes your brain work quickly, and gives you a great sense of music. If people tell you you are too small or whatever, remember tenacity is the key. Fonteyn always told me that was what kept her going.”