Ballet dancers - we're tougher than we look Watson starred in the music video for Boy Cried Wolf by the British band The Feeling While he has danced in dozens of new works over the years - his look, which is more Tim Burton than Disney, has meant he's tended to be cast in contemporary ballets rather than the chocolate box-classics such as Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty - those with only a passing interest in dance are more likely to know him from the Royal Opera House's 2007 advertising campaign. "Meet Ed," the slogan printed over his face read. Fact: when he's dancing, pound for pound, he's stronger than a rhino. Superheroes really do wear tights. The traditionalists didn't like it much and there were accusations in the press that the Royal Opera House was dumbing down and sexing up. You can only imagine what said traditionalists think of the organisation's current posters, which feature a close-up picture of a couple's faces in an orgasmic contortion and the strapline "Experience the real thing." "It was the most bizarre moment of my career," Watson remembers of the controversy it caused. I just went in and had my picture taken. Then we were on tour in Mexico and the publicity people came in and said, "Ed, there are journalists who want a quote from you." There'd been an article saying there was a glint in my eye and it was too sexy, it wasn't right for the Opera House. I thought: whatever, it's just my face, they can get over it. I just thought it was funny. He doesn't argue with the poster's claim about his strength, though, and says he feels he has as much in common with an athlete as an actor. When I watched the Olympics, I did feel a connection to the people taking part. You see that drive, that thing that makes you want to be brilliant. Watson will appear in the Rhapsody/Tetractys - The Art of Fugue/Gloria triple bill opening at the Opera House on 7 Feb (ROH/ Bill Cooper 2011) Like most dancers of his level, Watson has devoted practically all of his life to the pursuit of this brilliance. Born in Bromley, he went to his first ballet class with his twin sister at the age of three. He carried on with lessons all the way through primary school but tended not to mention that he did ballet to his classmates for fear of what they might think of him. Is there still that stigma around men who dance? I think there probably is a bit. Silly as it seems, I think Billy Elliot changed things a lot though. It got people talking about boys doing ballet. But what his classmates thought of his extra-curricular activities stopped mattering when he enrolled in the Royal Ballet School fulltime at the age of 11. From there he graduated to the Royal Ballet company at 18, and became a principal dancer for them at the relatively late age of 27. In 2012 he won an Olivier Award for his portrayal of Gregor in an adaptation of Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis created especially for him. Now he is 37, though it's hard to believe this after you've watched him move. He plans to keep dancing for as long as he can - "I still feel like I did ten years ago" - and has a few ideas for life after, though nothing that's fully-formed enough to share yet. I've never planned anything. I guess that's the best and worst thing about me - I just see how I feel. What he feels like now is a steak, so he heads off in search of that. Normally on a Friday night he'd be at the pub with friends but he has to be back in rehearsals tomorrow morning and doesn't think it's a good idea. I'm surprised that was even an option - surely athletes like him are supposed to spend Friday nights in with a physio and a glass of carrot juice? "No, you've got to have a life, have a laugh, see your friends," he says. Dancing's great but I've got to take my head out of it for a bit. Men in Motion will be performed at the London Coliseum on 30th and 31st January. For tickets visit putrov.com/meninmotion or call 020 7845 9300