Derek Deane was raised in Redruth, Cornwall and trained in the Royal Ballet School.
As a dancer, he eventually became a Principal Dancer with The Royal Ballet, later retiring from the stage and working as Deputy Artistic Director and Resident Choreographer at Teatro dell'Opera di Roma and Artistic Director of English National Ballet (1993–2001).
He was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2000 Queen's Birthday Honours for his services to dance as artistic director of the English National Ballet.
Deane worked with some of the era's most respected choreographers, including Kenneth MacMillan, Frederick Ashton, George Balanchine, Hans van Manen, John Neumeier, Glen Tetley, Rudolf Nureyev, Peter Wright, and David Bintley.
Many of these works Deane has re-created for the "in the round" productions for the Royal Albert Hall, including Swan Lake, seen by over 500,000 people worldwide.