Blenheim's Billy Elliot: Ballet and Contemporary Dancer in the NZ School of Dance Program

Tom Calder remembers being pissed off before starting his first dance class.

All the other dancers were a year older than him and the teacher was not sure he could follow him.

But his mother, tired of a 4-year-old child who did not stop turning and moving around the house, pleaded: "Let yourself be tempted".

Billy Elliott, of Blenheim, Tom, 12, has taken the right steps and has been accepted into the associate program of the New Zealand School of Dance.

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With professional aspirations, Tom has a deep love for dancing, practicing up to 12 hours a week.

"I love the way it's such an escape.It's so emotional.It's an expression of emotion so cool, I love it.C & # 39; Is so liberating.

For the associates program, Tom will travel to Wellington one weekend per session next year for intensive training.

"I'm really happy for that."

Dance since the age of 4 years; First hip hop and salsa, followed by jazz and ballet, Tom is the oldest boy in his school.

His favorite memory of dancing like a little boy was the "starry circle".

"You would have a circle and then someone would run into the circle and do" improvisation "and people would be applauding outside."

At the age of 10, attracted by the structure and rules of ballet, Tom was soon introduced to Billy Elliot.

"I think it's such a cool movie, I love the way the guy who was in boxing classes joined the girls and he's grown so much."

"Obviously, when I started ballet, I was the only boy of my age in the Blenheim dance area, so I thought it was really cool to see the movie."

It was "cool" to be the only boy in the dance class, but there were also challenges, he said.

"I had never seen a boy of my age lift up, I had not seen boys of my age dancing, if it was on videos or other things.

"So it was hard to find my style that was not too feminine.

"I'd like there to be more boys here." I suppose it's inconvenient to live in a smaller place than Christchurch, for example, where there's more than boys. "

While he loved ballet, contemporary dance was his true calling and that would be his goal in the associates program.

"With Contemporary, it can be a lot more emotional, a lot more personal."

Tom thought he had auditioned well, but auditions had been held in Wellington, Auckland and Christchurch, so his fingers were crossed so that he could make the cut.

"I was on the moon.It will be a good springboard, I hope people will notice me."

"It'll give my name there."

He was accepted for an audition in Wellington and his previous dance exam results.

At the end of the year program, Tom would audition again to see if he would be accepted in the following year.

Tom was trying to follow in the footsteps of Christchurch dancer Joshua Guillemot-Rodgerson, who had close ties with DANCE at the Blenheim Grove School where Tom had been trained.

Guillemot-Rodgerson then attended a training at the prestigious Juilliard School in New York and, since graduation, began dancing with the Houston Ballet Company in Texas.

Guillemot-Rodgerson was home to Blenheim earlier this year and danced in DANCE on Grove's mid-year ballet, Mowgli.

"It was so cool because it was Mowgli and I was the teenager Mowgli, so I was like a little him," said Tom.

"It's such an inspiration, it shows me what I might be able to do.

"If you've seen it done, you know it can be done."

Earlier this month, Tom was an "extra kid" dancing with The Nutcracker with the Royal Ballet of New Zealand during his tour in Blenheim.

"It was so amazing, even being on stage with them and watching them was so amazing."

Some younger boys had recently joined Tom Blenheim's school and he hoped to be a source of inspiration for them, he said.

This weekend, Tom would be singing for the first time on stage in DANCE at Grove's end-of-year show, The little mermaid Jr.

Classmates Moana MacDonald and Samantha Grammer will join Tom in joining the New Zealand School of Dance Associate Program in 2019, specializing in contemporary music.

Milly Ryan and Harriet Ensor are part of the New Zealand School of Dance Fellowship Program in 2019, specializing in ballet.

DANCE on the grove production of The little mermaid Jr will be held at the ASB theater, in Blenheim, from 30 November to 2 December.