Quotes from Matthew Bourne

Sometimes you don't know what you've got until you put it in front of an audience - and the enthusiasm for the show from the audience has been just incredible.

I'm not completely trained in any one area - I'm not a tap person or a ballet person. I don't have a big back-up of steps; I can't just fall back on what I know.

The reason I'm travelling so much is because of reasons that weren't completely planned. Several of the shows became successful and were invited to go to other places and they've all happened at similar times.

Keep your mind open about what you want to do and be true to yourself. So many people are governed by what's 'in' or copy something that someone else has done.

I went to church as a kid, but mainly for the showbiz aspect. I remember doing a solo of 'The Little Drummer Boy' and everyone singing the rup-a-pum-pums.

I'm very conscious that I want the dance audience to respond and respect what I'm doing, so I'm always very true to the music and I honour the music in the way I see it - I don't mess around with the music.

I would like to have directed Hollywood musicals in the '40s and '50s.

My first boss at the BBC was Aubrey Singer. The main thing I learned from him was discipline. I also learned things about myself: namely, that I hated commuting and didn't really want a 9-5 job.

I'm constantly being approached by people who say, 'You've introduced me to a new world that I didn't even know I liked.' Even if I didn't set out to do that, I'm very proud that I have.

With my work, it's not possible to just cast a production and leave it. I have to nurture the group of dancers to make it happen.

People strangely revere dance. They see it as another world, and dancers are somehow mysterious - just because they don't speak.

I've always been excited by the strangeness of ballet, but I can't bear it when people just come forward and do a turn in the air for no reason.

It's one of my strongest dance pieces - having just done Play Without Words which was veering away from a lot of dance - I thought it would be nice to go back to something with almost the most dance I'd done.

I was always the kid down the street who got the other kids to put on a show. But it was only when I was 19, and discovered ballet and contemporary dance, that I got interested in the fact that you could have a whole evening of dance - rather than just waiting for the dancers in a musical.

I once went through the dustbin outside David Bowie's house.

I wish I was more adventurous.

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.

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'm very conscious that I want the dance audience to respond and respect what I'm doing, so I'm always very true to the music and I honour the music in the way I see it - I don't mess around with the music.