Christopher Wheeldon has Somerset in his soul and ballet in his heart

Indeed the idea of creating a dance piece focusing on his idyllic childhood when he lived in Marston Magna before moving to London and then New York is not something he would ever discard.

As he said: “You never say never as I am always looking for new ideas and new things.”

The latest new thing on the horizon for the international choreographer and director has been to create a special dance piece for the BalletBoyz show at the Octagon in Yeovil on May 24.

For the new works in the first half of Fourteen Days choreographers Javier de Frutos, Craig Revel Horwood, Iván Pérez and Christopher Wheeldon were teamed with composers Scott Walker, Joby Talbot, Charlotte Harding and Keaton Henson and each given just fourteen days to create their pieces.

Fallen forms the second half of the evening, choreographed by Russell Maliphant and set to a powerful score by French film composer Armand Amar.

Dance has been an integral part of Christopher’s life since he was eightyears-old when he began training as a ballet dancer.

He attended the Royal Ballet School between the ages of 11 and 18.

In 1991, Wheeldon joined the Royal Ballet, London; and in that same year, he won the Gold Medal at the Prix de Lausanne competition.

In 1993, when he was 19, Wheeldon moved to New York City to join the New York City Ballet. Wheeldon was named Soloist in 1998.

In 2000 he retired as a dancer to focus on his choreography and in 2001he became the New York City Ballet resident choreographer and first resident artist.

Reflecting on what dance means to him, Christopher said: “Dance has been my life since I was eight-years-old.

“The clearest way to answer that question is to say as an experience it came to me as a child I was meant to be a dancer and then a choreographer.

“I was one of those lucky people who found their identity and talent and followed it through.

“In some ways I feel I have been lucky to be able to do this but it is one of the things which I am passionate about.

I had as I said been a dancer since I was eight, and then as I got older more opportunities arose to be a choreographer.

I loved dancing but there were too many opportunities coming my way which I did not want to pass up.

“I had reached a point in my life where I had danced everything I wanted to.

"I felt I could still have danced for another 10 years but it was time to stop. When many dancers stop they are in constant pain but my body was gratefully fine.”

During his career after stopping dancing, Christopher has achieved a great deal in the dance world. He created the Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company, in 2011, he presented a full-length ballet “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” at the Royal Ballet, Covent Garden.

In 2014, he premiered a full-length ballet, The Winter’s Tale for the Royal Ballet, Covent Garden. And in 2016 he was awarded an OBE for “services to promoting the interests and reputation of British classical and theatrical dance worldwide”.

Music has played a huge part in Christopher’s life.

He loved going to and seeing musical theatre while growing up in Somerset and when to London to see some of the big musical like 42nd Street, Cats, Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables.

Talking about his joy of music he said: “Without music there is no dance.

“Music for me is everything as it allows me to create a picture in my head when I listen to it.

“In dance we have muscle memory which when we dance takes over as we remember the dance moves.”

The latest dance move we can see created by Christopher will be through BalletBoyz.

He has created a unique dance which he said was: “Something different, it looks at the love of two men, brotherly love or romantic life.

“It is a sensitive piece so it will be interesting what the critics and people in Yeovil think about it.

"What I hope people get from it is seeing a very good dance company BalletBoyz.

"What they bring to the performance is a masculinity but also something which is aesthetically exciting.

“They bring out masculinity and feminine qualities which are woven through the dance pieces .

“They really are a unique company with a great deal of energy.”

BalletBoyz are at the Octagon at 7.30pm on Thursday, May 24.

Tickets cost £18; Concessions: £16.50; Groups 10+: £14

Buy online at octagon-theatre.co.uk or call the box office on 01935 422884.