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World of: Sergei Polunin, ballet dancer

Royal Ballet principal Sergei Polunin talks about his daily routine, the soft toy he travels with and how he switches off from ballet

3:42PM GMT 11 Nov 2011

Sergei Polunin, 21, is the youngest male dancer ever to be made a principal with the Royal Ballet. Born in Ukraine, he joined the Royal Ballet School in 2003, aged 13. In 2007 he was named Young British Dancer of the Year. He will perform at the Royal Opera House on 15 November in Manon and in The Sleeping Beauty on November 25, and December 10 and 15 (roh.org.uk). He lives in London.

Routine
I wake up at 9.30am. It is almost impossible for me to wake up any earlier because I get so tired in the evenings. Six days a week, I have to be at the theatre for class by 10.30, and I always get there with one minute to spare. I never eat breakfast – I have time only for a glass of water and then I am out of the door – and I can go until 8pm without eating anything. Class finishes at 11.45, I have a 15-minute break, and it is straight into rehearsals. I can be working on up to five ballets at one time. Currently I am rehearsing Marguerite and Armand and Manon and am about to start work on The Sleeping Beauty.

Starting out
I was born in Kherson in southern Ukraine and attended the big gymnastics school there from age four until eight. I was aiming to win an Olympic gold. I did a little bit of dancing at the school in the afternoons and was good at it, so my mum saw an opportunity for a better life for me as a dancer. We moved to Kiev so I could attend the State Ballet School. We didn’t have any money, so my father went to Portugal to work as a builder and my grandma moved to Greece to look after a family and they both sent money home so that we could pay the rent.

Royal Ballet School

When I was 11 my mum helped my teacher make a tape of me dancing and sent it to the Royal Ballet School. The director must have liked it because I was sent a letter, offering me a place, but because then I had only a little understanding of English I thought it said I had to pay a lot of money to go to the school. A month later, a friend of my mum’s translated it and told us that it actually said that the Nureyev Foundation, which supports dancers, would sponsor me. Attending the Royal Ballet School was a big escape for me. I didn’t miss home at all. In Kiev I shared a room with my mum for four years; suddenly I was in a dorm with six other boys at White Lodge in Richmond Park – I felt like I was in Harry Potter.

On the wall
I have this photograph (above) of me jumping for the artist Richard MacDonald, who made a 10ft bronze statue of me this year. I had to jump about 10 times so that he could get the posture in his head, and in the picture he is working with clay to create a maquette, which took him about six hours to make. He has had nine commissions of the statue – they cost about £40,000 – and he is going to auction one for the Royal Ballet School.

Memento
I was given this little Phantom of the Opera pin (pictured, above) when I danced in the 25th anniversary show at the Royal Albert Hall at the beginning of October. I have never seen the musical and felt privileged to be part of such a special production of it, with all the best cast from America and the UK. I was working with the choreographer Gillian Lynne, who specifically asked for me to be a part of the show, and it was broadcast live to more than 200 cinemas across the world.

Gifts
I receive gifts from fans wishing me luck when I do big roles. They leave them outside the stage door, but they never introduce themselves. One particular lady only buys me things with stars on, I think to say, ‘You are a star.’ I was given this illustrated plate when I did Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland last season. That was a big deal because it was the first full-length narrative ballet choreographed for the Royal Opera House in almost 20 years.

Shoes
This pair of shoes (pictured, below) is from my first big soloist role as the Bronze Idol in La Bayadere, which I did when I joined the company at 17 years old. I have kept all the shoes from my professional career. I have done a lot of roles that I almost wish I could have saved for later in my career. I feel that about Des Grieux in Manon – one of the biggest ballets to do – but when you get the chance you have to take it. Later might never happen.

Tiger teddy
My girlfriend [Helen Crawford, Royal Opera House First Soloist] gave me this tiger teddy (pictured, below) about a year ago when we started going out, because I gave her the nickname ‘Tiger’. I take it with me when I travel to gala shows. I have been all over the place – Japan, America, Russia – to do galas and that is when you make good money. I was in Denmark doing a gala with the soloist Thomas Whitehead in July. We had to share a room and he had his own little teddy, too.

Screenings
The Sleeping Beauty will be streamed live in cinemas, too, and then released on DVD. It is good that more people get to see the ballet but it is a big pressure on me – imagine if I fall! Romeo is my big role next year and they are planning to show that in cinemas, too. You have to be a good actor because the cameras zoom in for close-ups of your face. I watch a lot of films to inspire me; if I have to be a warrior I might watch Russell Crowe in Gladiator, or if I have to be angry, I’ll watch Al Pacino.

Switching off
I can be literally sweating at night just from thinking about going on stage. But it is important for me not to get nervous. I switch off from ballet by playing Call of Duty on PlayStation, or watching a good gangster movie.