‘WANTING TO DANCE IN WALES IS DIFFICULT’
Negative ballet stereotypes still exist, says real-life Billy Elliot
AREAL-LIFE Billy Elliot too scared to dance while growing up in Wales is now inspiring hundreds of other boys to take up ballet. James Anthony Cuncliffe, 36, now runs the London Boys Ballet School in trendy Finsbury Park, north London.
But while negative stereotypes surrounding male dancers have largely disappeared, he says the problem remains in Wales.
James’ own journey began in Swansea where, as a boy, dancing was not something boys did.
“When I was younger, I wanted to dance, but was too embarrassed to do so. I grew up in a dancing family and everybody in my family did actually dance, but despite that, I wasn’t confident enough to tell anybody I wanted to dance.
“My mum was a dance teacher, my sister was a dancer, my other sister danced, my niece danced, everybody danced, but every time I used to go and watch a dance class, which was obviously quite often being the son to a dance teacher, I really wanted to join in.
“I really wanted to take part in the class, but there were no boys in the school. None.”
He added: “Of course, inevitably no boy wanted to be that only boy in a class of girls. So that was a big factor. I got asked several times by my mum did I want to dance, and I so wanted to say yes. I really wanted to. But I couldn’t, and I never actually said.
“For many years, I didn’t do it. Then when I got a little bit older I thought, you know what, I’m going to do this.
“So I actually began to take intensive classes – three hours every day – attending classes all over London, and I skipped a lot of the grades and started to work towards vocational levels in dance and ballet. Within a two-year period, I achieved my vocational levels in ballet. But of course once you’ve got to that point, you think what am I going to do now, because I was too old to be professional dancer.”
James founded the London Boys Ballet School (LBSS) two years ago.
Now the school has 170 boys taking classes, with another 40 set to join in the next few weeks.
There are also plans to open a second school in Birmingham later this year, and James will also be rolling out ballet workshops for primary schools around the UK from September.
Instead of tutus and tiaras, boys wear trainers and tracksuits to take part, with the emphasis on the strength male dancers need.
But initially, it was a struggle to get boys to take dance classes.
“When I started, we literally had four or five boys in one class and it continued for several months, and I’m thinking perhaps this really isn’t going to work,” James said. “I was persistent and I kept going and a few more boys came and then we started to snowball a little bit.
“I rebranded the image of ballet. I wanted it to come across as something it really is – very athletic, you need a great deal of stamina and strength to do it. So the branding of the school was very different – it was very masculine colours, all demonstrating the strength.
“It continued to build and I took a big gamble and opened up a school on a much larger premises. It’s really rocketed. As far as teachers go, a lot of them are ex-Royal Ballet and some of the top people in the industry. We’re delivering classes that are high level.”
He also runs Counterpointe Theatre Arts in Swansea, offering boys in Wales the opportunities he wished he had growing up.
“It’s a really difficult story in Wales in all honesty,” James said. “It’s much harder to get boys in Wales to take up dance and ballet.
“It’s nothing to do with the fact that boys in Wales are any different to anywhere else... unfortunately there is still a much stronger negative image of male ballet dancers in Wales than there is in the rest of the country or certainly cities like London.
“It’s a shame really, because I’m certain a lot of these boys would take up dance if they knew that these opportunities were available.
“But when you get older, you do what you love and you go for it.”