Wayne Sleep won a scholarship to the Royal Ballet School in 1961 and joined the Royal Ballet Company in 1966, becoming a Senior Principal Dancer. He has also worked as an actor, including in musical theatre, and as a choreographer he created, directed and appeared in DASH, which for the first time incorporated all genres (including ballet, jazz, tap, and contemporary). He was appointed OBE in 1998 and is the patron of a number of charities. He lives in London and has two entries in the Guinness Book of Records.