'Sheffield's Billy Elliot' fundraises for his dream

A 13-year-old boy who has been described as "Sheffield's Billy Elliot" is fundraising so that he can train to realise his dream.

Talented dancer Barnaby Hawker, from Fulwood, started ballet when he was nine and now dances with the Academy of Northern Ballet in Leeds.

Parents Leo and Sarah Hawker have set up a Gofundme so he can attend development courses this summer - and said that without support, he would have to be "selective" about the sessions he could go to.

Barnaby said: "Dancing makes me feel really proud of myself - I just feel really good in those movements."

He has been compared to young dancer Billy Elliot - of stage and screen fame - who dreams of taking up ballet professionally, but has to attend classes in secret due to disapproval from his parents and peers.

Barnaby, however, asked his parents to sign him up for classes at their local dance school after following along with his younger sister's online lessons during lockdown.

"I just liked how you had the freedom of movement and creativity, but you also had to keep it within the style and the technique, or method," he said.

Later, he went to a free boys' masterclass at the Academy of Northern Ballet, and the school contacted his parents to encourage him to audition for enrolment.

He was accepted, and joined them last September.

However, he said there was still a negative stereotype of male ballet dancers and he had faced bullying by other children.

"It's made me a better dancer and person overall - it's just about overcoming that adversity.

"You always have to acknowledge it, because you see those people every day at school or wherever else they are, but then you can also just think about doing the ballet.

"Everything else you just forget, because you love it."

Mrs Hawker said she was "really proud" of her son.

"He's followed his dream. I'm happy that it makes him so happy, and I'm proud how he has coped when he has had mean comments - it hasn't put him off."

She said they went to one of his shows last summer and her husband cried.

"A lot about ballet is you drop them off outside, you pick them up outside, we never really see him do it that much.

"When we did see him, we were blown away, really."

Barnaby said he wanted to attend the summer programmes because they would expose him to different teachers' perspectives, but also introduce him to other young dancers, especially other boys.

He has secured a part-scholarship for one of the courses and auditioned for other scholarships, but his mother said costs such as travelling and finding accommodation still posed an issue.

Barnaby's ambition is to be the principal dancer in a professional ballet company.

"I love ballet and I'd want to show other people why I love it, and be on stage and dance every day of every week," he said.

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