An Accrington lad is swapping the streets of Lancashire for a job aboard a Caribbean cruiser to follow his dancing dream.
Jamie Hall, a 22-year-old dance and performing arts student from Accrington, has beaten hundreds of applicants to the role of character dancer for motion picture company Dreamworks.
The contract - which begins on June 10 and lasts for nine months - will see Jamie perform as characters from famous Dreamworks films in productions aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship.
Jamie said he was thrilled to take the first step in his career as a professional dancer.
He said: “I’ve worked with cruise ships before but as a counsellor on the ship - this is my first professional artist job. I’m very excited.”
Jamie, who attended Peel Primary and Accrington Academy, has been interested in performing since he was a child.
He said: “I started dancing when I was 12. Performance is always something I have been interested in doing since I was a young boy.
"I started off in Buddies at Accrington theatre, and then I went on to KTZ dance.
“I had always put on mini shows for my parents in the living room when I was younger, always messing around dancing and acting.”
Jamie is a student at Edge Hill University specialising in contemporary dance and jazz.
He is also proficient at the demanding disciplines of aerial silks and bungee, which Jamie says are ‘physically tiring’ but add an extra dimension to his dancing.
Despite his success, training to be a dancer was not always easy - especially as Jamie was the only boy in his school’s dance class.
He said: “I was the only boy dancing within my school.
“It was kind of hard because teachers try and force you down the typical boy route like being a footballer, but I didn’t want to do that. I was more interested in dancing.
“It actually just made me want to aim higher and achieve something in performing arts. I’m proud of the fact that I didn’t give up and try and change myself for other people.”
In the future Jamie hopes to perform on the London stage.
He said: “From here my dream would be to be in the West End, in a musical theatre production, dancing and acting combined. I’d love to dance in my favourite musical Wicked.”
