Quotes from Matthew Bourne

My mum was ill when I was originally making 'Edward Scissorhands' in 2005. I was virtually visiting her every night after rehearsals, and she never got to see it.

A lot of the people who have come to know the company in the last few years will not have seen this piece.

It's one of the things that looks good written down, but the reality is that you think about the pieces you're doing and try to bear in mind everyone in the audience.

I'm a choreographer and a director, and I have no ambition beyond that.

My parents were an ordinary East End family and very supportive - they would have supported me no matter what I wanted to do.

When it comes down to it, it's giving people a good night out in a basic way and I think my company guarantees that. There's always something new and something to excite us and surprise us, and that's why people come back, I hope.

My company is known for being funny as well as moving. You get a bit of everything in these shows. I think people know they're going to have a surprising experience.

Astaire never thought of what he was doing as balletic, but Kelly was always trying to dance with women on points. And his choreography is so showy and flashy. He always looks self-satisfied to me.

People get excited about things like 'Swan Lake' because they generate a personal involvement. If you set up the story properly, audiences respond to the ambiguity. People ask, 'What exactly is happening in Act Four?' and I never say. I can't put it into words, but they've got a feeling about it, and that's good enough.

People think I got rich out of 'Swan ,but I didn't at all: it's the royalties from 'Oliver' and 'My Fair Lady' that have kept me going.

I decided to go to dance school at 22, which is late for a dancer.

I'm a believer in presenting something that is worth paying to see. I've always felt lucky in that the work that pleases me pleases other people as well.

My interest in Princess Margaret comes through Vanessa Kirby's brilliant portrayal of her in 'The Crown.' Rather than do the classic story from beginning to end, this book gives you many different glimpses. You get a much more intimate sense of the person through little incidents, stories, and gossip.

With any project there's one or two things that you really want to do and that's going to crack it.

The reason I think the shows I do are successful with a wider public is because they tap into something that's beyond dance and is about being told a story. That's what people want.

I love Tennessee Williams; as a playwright, he's so poetic.

People know that they're going to see something which is entertaining but challenging as well because of the form it's in. It's dance theatre and it requires you to use your imagination - it's not straight forward.

I saw the Nutcracker to be a dummy as I thought of its mouth moving like a nutcracker - and also find them pretty scary as they almost have a life of their own.

'Gypsy' is the ultimate stage-mother story: Mama Rose is the one who should have been a star; she's the one with the talent. But she chose to have kids and put her dreams into them. The musical shows the power of showbiz and how much it can mean to someone.

I had daydreamed through many performances of Swan Lake, thinking the dancing tutus only ever conveyed one aspect of swans: their beauty gliding on water. I wondered what it would be like to use male dancers and bring out swans' aggressive, muscular side.

The thrill of autograph collecting is getting close to a world you're not part of.

My family home was a rented house in the East End of London. My parents could have bought it at one point, but they preferred to spend their money on holidays and theatre tickets. It was strange to see it handed on to someone else when my father passed away.

My first job was at the BBC but was really dull. I was working in the BBC's reference department, where I did a lot of filing. I had always been interested in films and theatre, so I thought that getting a job at the BBC would be a good idea, but the job was really mundane.

Fred Astaire is my real idol.