The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
It’s a merry dance for Harris
A real-life Billy Elliot from Clackmannanshire and his talented brother and sister are rapidly making their way in the ballet world, as Michael Alexander found out
In the 2000 film Billy Elliot an 11-year-old boy from North-East England decides, against all odds, that he wants to be a ballet dancer. Real-life rural Clackmannanshire in 2017 might seem a far cry from post-industrial County Durham.
Yet for 18-year-old Harris Bell and his family, who live near Dollar, the realities of a young man overcoming public prejudices to pursue his chosen career in ballet are all too familiar.
“Every boy ballet dancer has heard it wherever they go,” says Harris, who has been accepted into his third and final year at the prestigious Royal Ballet School in London.
“As soon as anyone finds out you do ballet, people say ‘oh, it’s Billy Elliot!’
“It’s nice as well, though, because people can relate to it.
“I know a lot of boys who have actually taken inspiration from the film and don’t feel embarrassed about it or anything and that’s kind of what’s kept them going. If it wasn’t for that they probably wouldn’t have continued.”
It was Harris’ mother Pauline, 46, who first got him and his two younger siblings Rory, 16 and Cara, 13, into dance.
The former Harris Academy pupil was teaching music to pre-school children around 10 years ago when she “traded” with her best friend Natalie Garry – an English Ballet-trained dancer and teacher who was running Gleneagles Ballet School at the famous hotel.
“I taught her kids music and she taught my kids ballet,” explains Pauline.
At the age of 11 Harris, who also plays eight instruments, was accepted into the prestigious Dance School of Scotland in Glasgow.
However, with a desire to concentrate on ballet, he quickly transferred to Elmhurst Ballet School in Birmingham.
At 15, he was accepted into the Royal Ballet School, attached to the Royal Opera House in London and regarded as the top ballet school in the world.
After a gruelling few years, he is now one of only three British boys left in his class, alongside male and female ballet dancers on scholarships from all over the world.
Harris, who is sponsored by Scottish firm Artemis, explains that boys are often assessed out because they are not strong enough and girls because they become too tall. Others just decide ballet is no longer for them.
But as well as the physical pressures, it can also be a “harsh” mentally straining environment.
He adds: “Passion for it is key. If you don’t have passion it becomes a chore and then it becomes torture because it is so gruelling on your body and your mind – especially your mind.
“People ‘lose it’ all the time. The pressure to get it right, the pressure you put on yourself to get things right, is so immense.
“I’m lucky because I’ve never doubted it.”
With Harris so strong, flexible and powerful, Pauline says he stands out at the top of his class.
“They love him because he is one of the most masculine boys they’ve got,” she says.
“The ballet world is dominated by quite a few feminine men and they need the masculine ones.”
Rory and Cara both went to the Julie Young Dance Studios in Perth.
The former is now following in his brother’s dance steps at the Glasgow dance school – and is soon heading for Urdang Academy in London, while Cara travels to Newcastle every weekend to classes under the Royal Ballet Mid Associate Scheme.
Pauline adds: “It means we do a lot of travelling about and it’s very expensive.
“But everyone is shocked when I explain that all three kids are performing at this level. And that’s quite rare.”
Passion is the key. I’m lucky because I’ve never doubted it