Daria Klimentova: I had to choose between my unborn baby or the ballet He did not feel any sentiment, caring or understanding; he was just irritated that I wouldn't be able to dance as Aurora in his new production [The Sleeping Beauty]. Mr Deane, 59, was a principal dancer in the 1980s who rose to become one of ballet's most celebrated choreographers. He became artistic director of the English National Ballet in 1993, and was friends with Diana, Princess of Wales and Princess Margaret. He has a reputation as an outspoken perfectionist who drives his dancers hard. The incident that Klimentova describes in her book Agony and Ecstasy: My Life in Dance took place in the summer of 2000, when she was emerging as one of ballet's brightest stars. Mr Deane had planned to cast her in the lead role of a new production of The Sleeping Beauty. She says she told him she still wanted the role, even though she would be four months pregnant at the time. Derek, of course, was having none of it and he immediately changed his plans for casting. Mr Deane denies "making any demand to Daria to terminate her pregnancy," but admitted asking her if it was the "right time" to have a child. "I remember the conversation very well, she came to me to say she was expecting a child," he told The Guardian. I said: 'Are you sure this is the right time for you privately and professionally to be having a baby? I am about to do Sleeping Beauty and your career is taking off. What do you really want? "She said, 'I want to have a baby," so I said you have to be very sure of that. I accepted what she said and cast someone else. There was no way I was making any demand to Daria to terminate her pregnancy. I wanted her to be very clear that was what she really wanted. Despite the incident, Klimentova returned to the English National Ballet within a week of giving birth, and gave her first performance as prima ballerina three months later. She says: "Once I had realised just how much I had let him down in having to refuse his offer of the opening night as Aurora, I thought that was it, I was done at ENB. But he bore no grudge towards me whatsoever and I seemed to go straight back to the top of the pile with his immediate offer of the next opening night. Mr Deane stepped down as artistic director of the English National Ballet in 2001 after allegations that he had harassed one of his male dancers. At the time he declined to comment. When Daria Klimentova told Derek Deane, above, about her pregnancy he asked: 'Are you going to keep it? He remained, however, a freelance choreographer for the company, and he and Klimentova played central roles in a 2011 BBC documentary, Agony & Ecstasy: A Year with English National Ballet. During the documentary, which drew comparisons with the film Black Swan, Mr Deane admitted that he bullied his ballet dancers in a "constructive" way. When a Russian ballerina due to play the lead role in Swan Lake was denied a visa, Klimentova stepped in. Deane was relentlessly critical of her, attacking her for her age, technique and lack of personality. The performance met with huge critical success and rejuvenated Klimentova's career. This summer Mr Deane is choreographing a production of Swan Lake at the Royal Albert Hall. Klimentova will be his principal dancer. Agony and Ecstasy: My Life in Dance by Daria Klimentová is published by John Blake and is out now at £19.99