What got you started?
Seeing a production of Caryl Churchill's Cloud Nine in New York when I was 17. It was directed by the Broadway choreographer Tommy Tune, and although it was a straight play, it had this incredible fluidity. Suddenly I thought, "Oh, maybe dance is the way for me to get closer to theatre."
What was your big breakthrough?
Winning the South Bank Show award for my piece Grass in 1997, and then having Melvyn [Bragg] devote a programme to my work. It felt like a big door opening.
Who or what have you sacrificed for your art?
Family. Love. And, as a young dancer, food – a lot of it.
What one song would work as the soundtrack to your life?
Everything's Coming Up Roses from Gypsy – but only if it's sung by Ethel Merman. It's about a stage mother who realises she was the one who wanted to be on stage all the time. It's angry, violent, vicious – they way I wish I could be.
In 1999, the BBC decided not to screen your work Eternal Damnation of Sancho and Sanchez, which features a deformed pope and pregnant nuns. Do you set out to shock?
No. When people saw that work in Spain, they were shocked that British audiences had been shocked. Shock is only a temporary state: once the dust settles, people can see what a work is really about.
Which work, if any, do you wish you'd created yourself?
Twyla Tharp's choreography for the film version of Hair. It's so loose and clever; I'm incredibly envious.
Do you suffer for your art?
Yes. I cry a lot – I find the process of creation difficult emotionally. I stopped performing because I have crippling nerves. And the first day on any production is always like the first day of school; it doesn't get any easier.
Which living artists do you most admire?
[Pedro] Almodóvar, Todd Haynes and Tom Ford. A Single Man is one of the most vivid portraits of the anguish of a gay man I have ever seen.
What's the worst thing anyone ever said about you?
I used to perform naked, and a review once ran the headline No Pants, No Thanks. In another review, the critic said: "The women had bulging thighs and the men had impressive genitalia." We men were all checking each other out for quite a while after that.
In short
Born: Caracas, 1963.
Career: Founded the Javier de Frutos Dance Company in 1994. Has worked with Rambert, Candoco, and on the West End revival of Cabaret. Recently choreographed Macbeth at the Globe in London.
High point: "Winning an Olivier award for Cabaret. Sheila Hancock, who was sitting next to me, had to push me on to the stage."
Low point: "Coming back to work too quickly after the death of my father."