Ballet Dancers of Cowbridge

From the age of 2 my son has been fascinated by ballet. He loves music and he loves to dance. I took him to a couple of street dance classes and then he also started gymnastics at the age of 3. I didn’t take him to his first official ballet class until he was 6. He was little worried about being the only boy and also concerned that the rest of his class had been attending for a while but from the moment he stepped into the classroom he was totally hooked. It’s like he’d be waiting his whole life to put on a pair of ballet shoes and dance.

Within 18 months, he’d auditioned for The Royal Ballet School and gained a place as a Junior Associate, travelling to a centre near Bath every 2 weeks to train with other associates from around the South West and Wales. In February this year, he attended a workshop at The Royal Ballet School in Covent Garden, which was an absolute dream come true. He got to go on stage at The Royal Opera House and even see the shoe room!

He attends classes in Cowbridge every week at the Moya Vahey School of Russian Classical Ballet and trains with The Royal Ballet School every fortnight. Not once in the last few years has he said he doesn’t want to go. Even on a Saturday morning when he has to get up at 6.30am and travel to Bath and back in one day. Every morning before school he puts music on in the lounge and just dances. Not to ballet music, any music, and he won’t let anyone watch him. I think he feels so free when he’s dancing. It’s such a personal experience for him that he likes to close all the doors and just dance.

When he started ballet classes, I had no knowledge of ballet at all. I attended ballet classes for a very short while when I was about 6. I gave up before it was time to do an exam as I couldn’t bear the thought of people watching me. Since he started dancing I’ve become fascinated by ballet. I started to feel that I really wanted to try and capture this time in his life – the hard work and dedication that he puts in and the sheer joy on his face when he dances.

I recently popped into his ballet class, just before the end of term and took a few photos of him and his classmates preparing for their Summer Garden Party Show in Cowbridge. I’m very happy that I got to document these moments and capture a little tiny bit of his magic.

I’ve added a few images at the bottom of the performance at the show. I love the energy and joy that comes bursting out of the pictures.