My Secret Life: William Trevitt, dancer and choreographer, 41

(Dominick Tyler)

My parents were... willing to sacrifice a great deal to help me realise my ambition. Obviously there was the financial sacrifice, but it was also to do with being sent to boarding school, the Royal Ballet School, from 11 to 16. From my perspective now, as a parent, I understand how much you have to give up to have a child away from you at that time.

The household I grew up in... was constantly changing. My siblings are all older than me, and they all went to different secondary schools,and then universities. I had four brothers and a sister. I think I was a big disappointment to her – she wanted a little sister!

When I was a child I wanted to... From a very young age I really wanted to be a dancer. I had a wobble in my teens, when I wanted to be in a band. I really enjoyed performing when I was a kid, and I was lucky enough to see some great shows.

If I could change one thing about myself... I might be a little more blunt. I have a tendency to try and fix problems rather than having a more direct approach.

You wouldn't know it but I am very good at... I can't think of anything I'm very good at. But me and Michael [Nunn] do all our own editing and filming, which is a bit of a hidden skill.

You may not know it but I'm no good at... ice -skating. As a child I never ice-skated or roller skated because you can't risk injury as a dancer, but maybe 41 is too late to try to learn these new tricks.

At night I dream of... I gave up smoking a very long time ago, but I still dream about it. I just sit in a chair and smoke, that's it. It's a very good dream.

What I see when I look in the mirror... An old version of my youngest son, who looks very much like me.

I wish I'd never worn... I've worn some pretty horrendous costumes. In La Fin du Jour, I had to wear a pink satin tailcoat. I enjoyed the ballet, but I could have done without the suit.

My favourite item of clothing... Probably my crash helmet.

I drive... a Kawasaki motorbike.

It's not fashionable but I like... Fry's Turkish Delight.

My favourite work of art... Guernica. I didn't believe it would be as powerful as it was when I saw it for real.

Movie heaven... is anything directed by Martin Scorsese.

A book that changed me... We're writing a book at the moment and it's really rather distracting and much harder than we thought! It's about 10 years of our company, so there's a lot of trying to recall what actually happened, who said what.

My secret crush is... Joan from Mad Men.

My greatest regret... I wish that when I was younger, I'd gone and danced in other countries rather than spending so long in the UK. With dancing, you don't need to be able to speak another language.

My real-life villains... Boringly, I would say politicians that let us down.

The last time I cried... Reading a children's book about a boy and an elephant. It's a Michael Morpurgo book. The boy's dad is killed in Afghanistan and his mum is killed in the tsunami, and the elephant saves him.

What's the point? Unless you do it, you'll never know.

My life in six words... Jam-packed, crazy, varied, challenging, rewarding.

A life in brief

William Trevitt was born in Cambridge in 1969. He started dancing at the age of six, and joined the Royal Ballet at 18. Promoted to the role of principal in 1994, he and fellow dancer Michael Nunn later quit to found their own groundbreaking modern dance troupe, Ballet Boyz, in 2001. The pair also attracted attention with their video diaries, Ballet Boyz and The Next Step. Trevitt lives in Kingston, Surrey, with his wife Rebecca and three sons. For Ballet Boyz tour details, visit balletboyz.com