taxi4ballet Posted December 5, 2020 Share Posted December 5, 2020 Please could I ask whether anyone knows where to find a clip online of Wayne Sleep on Record Breakers in 1973? As a child I saw him breaking the record on television when the programme was broadcast, and I was just talking to my daughter about it. She would really like to see it, but we can't find it anywhere - help please? Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted December 5, 2020 Share Posted December 5, 2020 Is that the one where Roy Castle then cheated and did even more, and when the camera panned upwards they found he was hanging from a bar or something? Sorry, I'm afraid I can't help on sourcing it, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted December 5, 2020 Author Share Posted December 5, 2020 Yes, that's the one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pas de Quatre Posted December 6, 2020 Share Posted December 6, 2020 (edited) I have a vague memory it might have been on Blue Peter, but I could be wrong. I'll have a look later and see if I have any luck finding it. While watching the recent RB streams it occurred to me that there is nobody these days with his stature, so both Puck and the Alaskan rag are danced by taller men which doesn't look right. Alexander Grant and Wayne Sleep were fabulous, but are shorter boys overlooked now and not taken into professional training? Can anyone think of other short male Principal dancers, now or is it only previous generations? Edited December 6, 2020 by Pas de Quatre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted December 6, 2020 Share Posted December 6, 2020 1 hour ago, Pas de Quatre said: I have a vague memory it might have been on Blue Peter, but I could be wrong. I'll have a look later and see if I have any luck finding it. While watching the recent RB streams it occurred to me that there is nobody these days with his stature, so both Puck and the Alaskan rag are danced by taller men which doesn't look right. Alexander Grant and Wayne Sleep were fabulous, but are shorter boys overlooked now and not taken into professional training? Can anyone think of other short male Principal dancers, now or is it only previous generations? There are several dancers on the shorter side of tall in both BRB and NB (and fabulous they are too!). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capybara Posted December 6, 2020 Share Posted December 6, 2020 1 hour ago, Jan McNulty said: There are several dancers on the shorter side of tall in both BRB and NB (and fabulous they are too!). David Yudes in the RB is, I think, the shortest male dancer the company has and he is cast as Hans Peter in the upcoming Nutcracker run. (He was also the ‘double’ for Alaskan Rag and looked as if he would have had a show had the Elite S programme not been curtailed.) Marcelino Sambe and, indeed, Luca Acri are flourishing in the wake of the only slightly taller Steven McRae and Alexander Campbell. There are many sequences which are easier for a man with shorter legs to execute so their success is not surprising. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peony Posted December 6, 2020 Share Posted December 6, 2020 Kids are so much taller now though. Average height has gone up 2” just since I was a teenager! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted December 6, 2020 Share Posted December 6, 2020 5 hours ago, Pas de Quatre said: I have a vague memory it might have been on Blue Peter, but I could be wrong. No, it was definitely Record Breakers (that may be one word - I can't remember). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pas de Quatre Posted December 6, 2020 Share Posted December 6, 2020 I've just looked it up in Wayne Sleep's autobiography, Precious Little Sleep. Yes it is Record Breakers in two words. He says he was invited onto the progamme to attempt an entrechat-dix but managed a douze. However he then says that it is too fast for the human eye to take in .... "A good entrechat-huit with the feet opening wider, is much more effective." The one with Roy Castle they actually parachuted out of a plane! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Q Fan Posted December 7, 2020 Share Posted December 7, 2020 I cant find a recording of Wayne's record online. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pas de Quatre Posted December 7, 2020 Share Posted December 7, 2020 I suspect the original tapes may have been wiped or recorded over. With Wayne's ongoing popularity and high profile I am sure they would have been broadcast from time to time if available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted December 7, 2020 Share Posted December 7, 2020 I thought I'd seen it somewhere in the not-so-distant past. This century, at least 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmhopton Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 If you follow this link you should get to Record Breakers http://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/results or just Google BFI catalogue Click on the first reply BFI Collections - Collections search Click on Search the Database Ensure 'Film and Television works' is ticked (it's the first and probably default option) Key in your search Searching for 'Record Breakers' (don't put 1973 as you don't get any relevant results) brings up 13 pages of results. Page 9 has 10 results for 1973 but when I clicked on 'cast' for each I couldn't see any mention of Wayne Sleep but the info was very meagre. If you could find out from the BBC or whoever created the programmes an exact date for his record you might get lucky. The downside is (I think) you have to view the film at their South Bank viewing centre. However, I'm not sure of this. It might be possible to get a copy but I seem to remember when I last used it (many years ago I was very keen on a recording of Igor Zelensky and Darcey Bussell dancing the Tchai pas de deux on the Torvill and Dean Christmas show) film wasn't available for home viewing presumably because of copyright. You pay by length of programme even if you only want to see a clip but I have no idea how much. it is a great resource for anyone wanting to see something from bygone times. Presumably films as well but I haven't tried searching them. Good Luck!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane S Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 It was reported in the dance magazines in March 1973 so presumably happened in Jan/Feb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmhopton Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 (edited) Had to go and walk the dogs but now I'm back just thought I'd search 'ballet' on the BFI website and came up with 1312 matches! Just browsed the first few pages and there seemed to be several items from the 1950s directed by John de Vere Loder. There is a Fonteyn Daphnis and Chloe with Michael Somes filmed at Sadlers Wells, a 1958 Festival Ballet Nutcracker and a 1958 Royal Ballet Pineapple Poll (which I might have on a BBC dvd with The Lady and the Fool). There is also a 1934 Cinderella rehearsal with Frederick Ashton as the Prince and a whole series of Lord Wakeham Ballet Film collection from the 1960s. Number 10 has Doreen Wells performing Sylvia (not sure whether or not it's complete). It sounds a fascinating archive of goodies though I suppose many will be poor quality and I don't know how many are actually available for watching. I even found my Torvill and Dean programme with Igor and Darcey in 1996 though it was just called Dance! and also featured Wayne Sleep, Adam Cooper and Leanne Benjamin among others. I see the BFI as a sort of British Library for film and tv and a fascinating archive of our media history (and hopefully present as well). It would be wonderful if stuff could be digitised and available on a pay per view basis but that would obviously cost serious money and might also infringe copyright. At least we can see it in London whenever we're able to get there again. Edited December 8, 2020 by jmhopton 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowan Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 (edited) Guinness World Records say it was 7th Jan 1973. https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/69625-fastest-entrechat-douze However, if you look at the archive, there wasn’t an episode that day. There was one on 5th Jan, and the next was 12th. There is no guest listed for 5th, and I suspect this was the actual day. https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/search/0/20?order=asc&q=Record+breakers&svc=9371541#search Either way, I don’t think it’s available to see. Edited December 8, 2020 by rowan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janite Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 5 hours ago, jmhopton said: I see the BFI as a sort of British Library for film and tv and a fascinating archive of our media history (and hopefully present as well). It would be wonderful if stuff could be digitised and available on a pay per view basis but that would obviously cost serious money and might also infringe copyright. At least we can see it in London whenever we're able to get there again. Maybe, when we are able to do things again, if anyone is going to watch anything at the BFI they could post; so that if there are others who want to see it they could join in and so spread both the joy and the cost. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmhopton Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 Great idea Janite. Goodness knows when I'll be in London again but when I am it will be something really interesting to do in the afternoon before an evening performance and if you have someone with you to enjoy it with that will make it even more special. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trog Posted December 9, 2020 Share Posted December 9, 2020 Both BBC Genome and imdb show only 27th Dec 1980 for Wayne Sleep on Record Breakers. Of course, there are known to be errors/omissions in both databases. I was surprised to learn from imdb that Wayne Sleep was in The Goodies. I'll have to dig out the VHS tapes, and see if I still have that episode. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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