Dancer Victoria Sibson was literally swept off her feet by the man who became her fiance, she tells Steve Pratt.

NORTHERN Ballet Theatre dancer Victoria Sibson was literally swept off her feet by the man who became her fiance. She was playing a Lost Boy in the Leeds-based company's Peter Pan and he was part of the technical crew making the cast fly high in the air on stage.

"I really loved the flying. It's the most amazing thing - and I met my fiance, Adam," she says.

Now she's up to mischief again as the company revives its dance adaptation of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.

David Nixon's Olivier-nominated version follows the romantic entanglements of a touring dance company on a sleeper train travelling from London to Edinburgh. As the train enters a tunnel, they find themselves in a strange, nocturnal realm where they must resolve their disputes, helped - or stage managed - by a very mischievous Puck.

The role is unusual for Leicestershire-born Sibson as Puck is usually played by a man. She's alternating the role with three male dancers. "I guess they thought I was cheeky enough to pull it off," she says.

"I guess each one of us is different because of our personalities and each person brings something different because of the way they naturally move."

The Dream was premiered during Sibson's first year with Northern Ballet four years ago, when she danced as a fairy.

Puck requires a different set of muscles because it's generally a male part. "I've had to up my cardio-vascular, I needed more power in my legs as Puck keeps jumping," she explains. "The acting and stuff involved is brilliant. I suppose Puck is a nymph who gets things wrong. I guess he's a bit of a chameleon."

The production features Dior-inspired costumes and a stylish monochrome set by Duncan Hayter that provide a dazzling contrast to the glorious Technicolor of the dreamworld.

Puck's outfit in the first act is very Victor/Victoria, says Sibson, a reference to the story of a woman who poses as a man who's a female impersonator. Then she wears something more elegant in the second act although Puck remains a sexual enigma, neither obviously male or female.

Sibson's association with Northern Ballet Theatre dates back to her training at Central School of Ballet. She came to the company as an associate, when the late Christopher Gable was running it, after being impressed by dancers from the company she'd encountered as teachers.

When David Nixon became the new artistic director, he spotted her in summer school and asked her to audition to fill in for an injured dancer. She performed as Young Cathy in Wuthering Heights in 2002 while still at ballet school.

Sibson began dancing as a youngster. "My mum keeps saying to me that when I was a baby I used to bob around to the music," she says. Later, her first contact with Northern Ballet came when a production visited Nottingham, where she grew up.

"I didn't know they were based in the North, I just went to see them because my friend invited me," she recalls. "So it's kind of a dream come true to be part of the company."

One non-dancing role that delighted her was being selected to appear on the poster for Northern Ballet's dance version of Dracula. "That's a wicked story anyway and to be on the poster was great because that's representing the company," she says of the poster picture that showed the blood-sucking count nibbling on her neck.

Even better was playing the villainous Milady de Winter in The Three Musketeers. "She was a bitch, I just loved her to bits. I really got into her. She's so juicy and I got to do more stage fighting - fisticuffs, slaps and hair-pulling," says Sibson.

Puck in The Dream isn't the only production on which she's currently engaged. There's a staging of Hamlet coming up after Christmas as well as revivals of The Nutcracker and Romeo And Juliet.

Sibson will be away from home for Christmas, when the company takes Madame Butterfly to China. A previous foreign tour took her to Bangkok for four days with Peter Pan.

When she's not dancing, she enjoys outdoor activities and she and her fiance go off to pursue their outdoor interests - archery, cycling and surfing.

Northern Ballet Theatre presents A Midsummer Night's Dream at West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds, from September 6-15. Tickets 0113-2137700.