Boys Can Dance
Two 17 year old boys from The BRIT School came to Mora Primary School in Cricklewood on Monday 31st October to talk about their difficult experiences growing up as male dancers.
Dance is their passion and gives them the release they both craved for whilst having to withstand bullying from secondary school peers. They would often be the only boy in their local dance class but it didn’t stop them and both of them have excelled in the dance world, now training at the prestigious BRIT School in Croydon.
Sebastian Harry “ I have danced since I was 4 years old because my mother had a dance company, so it was natural for me and my whole family to always dance, when I went to secondary school, I quickly realised that it was not cool to be a male dancer and I got teased a lot. Dance was something that gave me hope and getting the part in Matilda the musical, gave me a taste of performing in the professional world. It was something I absolutely loved. This helped me overcome my fear of being dyslexic as dance was something that I was really really good at. I decided to join a boys ballet group and this meant I could relax and just enjoy the dance without feeling like I was the only one. I joined Zoonation and became part of their youth company and performed with them for 4 years.”
Hari Khanchandani started dancing at 4 years old. He joined a local dance group and was one of 6 boys and 11 girls. After a few months, he was the only boy but he never left, he kept it up and although he too was bulled in school for doing dance, he found so much love and passion in dance and performance, he continued training hard until he too got a place at The BRIT School.Hari and Sebastian have also trained and performed with Zoonation, The Brit Awards – Little Simz and NYDC (National Youth Dance Company).
Parent 1 – “My child would not stop talking about how amazing the dancers were all evening and it has inspired him to want to dance now”
Parent 2 – “This new dance club is going to boost the children’s confidence so much and open up so many new possibilities for them”
Child 1 – “I was in shock with how good the dancers were. I hope one day, I can dance like that too!”
Child 2 – “When the boys kept doing their flips, it made me want to keep practising so that I can do that too one day.”
Child 3 – “I don’t think I can dance that good, but I’m willing to give it a try.”
Headteacher’s Comment:
“It was a pleasure to watch Sebi and Hari perform. They lit up the stage and the children were utterly amazed with their dancing skills. It was a real joy to see our pupils watch a live performance and I know they inspired us all to get up and dance!”
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