A TALENTED young dancer is on his way to achieving his dream after being selected to join the National Youth Dance Company.

Dan Baines, who lives in Brinkworth, is rehearsing in Hull with the flagship organisation that aims to give young dancers the opportunity to perfect their moves while working with internationally-renowned choreographers.

The 17-year-old first got into dancing at the age of seven, after joining a breakdancing class at Minety village hall, and he has never looked back.

“My family are really proud of me because no one comes from a dance background,” Dan said. “My mum used to go and watch dance — she used to watch things by the Northern Ballet but my dad is far-removed from it.”

The Year 13 Malmesbury School pupil trained with the Swindon Youth Dance Academy and has also helped start a breakdancing group at his school.

Dan was able to show off his skills during auditions for the NYDC when a workshop was held at Swindon Dance last year.

“I was going to audition the year before but I was in Year 11 at school and I thought because the training and rehearsing takes up a lot of term time, my GCSEs were a bit more important and so I put it on hold,” he explained.

“When I did get round to audition, I made it through the first and second round and I was happy to hear I had made it. I think from being with the Swindon CAT and seeing what other people have done over the years to get places just made me go for it when I got my chance to audition.”

This year’s diverse cohort of 40 young dancers, including Dan, were selected through NYDC experience workshops held in towns and cities all over the country.

The dancers are then mentored during three intensive residencies over the year in order to create, rehearse and develop the new piece. This month, the residency is in Hull to coincide with their 2017 City of Culture title.

NYDC brings together the brightest talent from across England to create, perform and tour new work. This year’s line-up perform a new creation by renowned choreographer Damien Jalet.

The work, called Tarantiseismic, receives its world premiere on April 19 at Sadler’s Wells, ahead of a UK national tour in June and July.

The teenager, who has also secured a place at the Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance where he will start in September, added: “My big dream is to go into full-time training. Having had the opportunities with Swindon CAT and now NYDC, it is all helping me achieve my dream and I’m really grateful to be where I am.”

Tickets for the National Youth Dance Company’s world premiere performance cost £12. For information, visit www.sadlerswells.com.