Ten-year-old York boy Taylor Harrison is heading for the prestigious Royal Ballet School.
Amazingly, Taylor – a pupil at Hempland Primary School in York – has only been learning ballet for nine months.
His ballet tutor Katie Ventress said: “He’s ten and only started ballet in October last year! He’s got brilliant potential, a little Billy Elliot!”
Taylor’s success in winning through a tough audition for the Royal Ballet School echoes the fictional story of Billy Elliot, the popular film about an 11-year-old boy who overcomes stigma and poverty to make it to the top of the ballet world.
Taylor Harrison in his Royal Ballet School uniform
Taylor – who began dancing aged four and still attends contemporary dance class at York Dance Space – has won a place at the Royal Ballet’s Junior Associate School in Leeds, where he will attend every Saturday.
When The Press caught up with him at the Katie Ventress School of Dance in The Raylor Centre, Taylor performed two dance pieces – Freezing in Winter and I Hate Homework (where he amusingly has to cast his school book to the ground!).
Watch: Taylor, 10, perform I Hate Homework
He said he was “shocked” but “happy” to win his place – especially as he had only started ballet lessons a few months earlier.
He said he loved to dance and had an inner drive to perform. “I feel a tingle in my legs and arms and I just have to start moving,” he said.
Mum Lisa can vouch for that and says Taylor is constantly dancing around their family home in the Heworth area of the city.
She said: “He jumps around everywhere, moving from one room to another and even practices while watching the TV!”
Dance tutor Katie said Taylor had lots of potential. “He is very focussed which is unusual for boys at this age.”
She said Taylor reminded her of another young boy she taught when she worked in London – Luc Foskett who is now an artist at the Royal Ballet and who has visited Taylor and her other dance pupils in York.
Katie said although Taylor’s story reminded her of the Billy Elliot film – which came out in 2000 but was set in 1984 at the time of the miners’ strike – she said times had moved on and ballet was more inclusive and welcoming for boys.
She said: “It has changed completely. Strictly Come Dancing has had a lot to do with that. It is a great hobby for boys.
“It is athletic, stress relieving, gives boys the chance to make new friends, develop team work, and build confidence – and it is brilliant for mental health. And the music just does good things to people! When I hear music it makes me happy and surely a lot of people feel that.”
Taylor agreed and said he was looking forward to starting at the Royal Ballet School after the summer and revealed he already had his uniform and when he put it on it made him feel special. “It gives me a feeling of being professional,” he said.
Young dancers can advance through the Royal Ballet School and even audition for its boarding school which takes the best young ballet stars in the world.
But for now, Taylor and his family are just focussing on starting in Leeds later this year – taking it one ballet step at a time.
