'I barely see any ballet dancers that look like me'

A teenage dancer is hoping to encourage more diversity in ballet after falling in love with the art form two years ago.

Jaydon, who lives in Chandlers Ford, Hampshire, believes there is a shortage of black dancers in the industry.

Despite being bullied when he first started ballet, the 15-year-old Zimbabwean persevered and was recently accepted into a prestigious dance school.

"There needs to be more of us out there so they can inspire other people to go on stage and be who they really want to be," he said.

As he slung his bag on the floor of a dance studio in Southampton, Jaydon explained what drew him to classical ballet.

"I just love the expression of it," he said.

"Whenever you see a performance there are characters and they have a way of moving which shows what their emotions are."

After slipping on his ballet shoes, Jaydon began his stretches, effortlessly contorting into different shapes.

But not everything about his journey had been so easy, he said, as he recalled being targeted by school bullies for learning ballet.

"I feel like there's not much representation for black people," he added.

"Whenever I'm going to watch something, I barely see any dancers that look like me. Maybe just one in the background."

It was a fear Jaydon's parents had when he first expressed an interest in ballet.

His dad, Takutzwa, said he had only ever met one other male ballet dancer.

"That was my friend from high school in Zimbabwe - he got quite a lot of trouble and that was one of my concerns when Jaydon started," he said.

The Royal Ballet said 26% of its dancers in 2023/24 identified as being from a global majority background - a term referring to people who are "black, Asian, brown, dual-heritage, indigenous to the global south, and or have been racialised as 'ethnic minorities'".

But it recognised there was more to be done to improve diversity.

Ballet teacher Grace Le Marquand has been teaching Jaydon for six months, and described him as naturally gifted.

She said some "old‑fashioned" attitudes about men in ballet still lingered.

"There is that stigma isn't there? That boys shouldn't do ballet," she said.

"But he has such a passion that I don't think anything would stop him."

Jaydon hopes to one day join The Royal Ballet, and has just been accepted into Tring Park School for the Performing Arts in Hertfordshire .

"I think when we received the news, I don't know whether I was the one doing the most jumping around with joy on the day," his mum Nancy said.

"Jaydon is very laid back, he doesn't show his excitement, but I think we do that for him."

A spokesperson from The Royal Ballet said: "We continue to work closely with The Royal Ballet School and other partners to build a diverse and inclusive talent pipeline, both now and for the future."

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