‘These dancers are not stupid. They won’t do whatever I say’

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Royal Ballet choreographer Wayne McGregor has redefined the look of classical ballet. As he 

prepares for a triple bill at the Opera House, he talks about how far is too far.

Sarah Lamb in Wayne McGregor’s Chroma at Covent Garden.

Who would have thought it? Twenty years ago, when I first saw Wayne McGregor perform his own choreography, I thought he was an oddball who looked like an alien life form on stage and danced like a strand of cooked spaghetti.
Talented, yes, but where would such quirky creativity take him? Certainly not to the Royal Opera House, that bastion of high classicism and beloved tradition. How wrong was I.
This season the Royal Ballet is celebrating McGregor’s tenth anniversary as its resident choreographer. An interloper from the world of contemporary dance, who made headlines when his appointment was announced…