Talemted Sheffield boy ballet dances into prestigious school programme

Cameron Cinnamond-Bland, aged eight, from Loxley, has been selected from hundreds of hopefuls to become a Royal Ballet junior associate.

Every Saturday Cameron will travel to Leeds to be taught by dancers from the Royal Ballet School.

The scheme nurtures promising students between the ages of eight and 15 who have the potential to achieve excellence in classical ballet.

Cameron has been dancing since he was three and was inspired to start by his grandmother Sheila, 67, who had told him about her ballet days as a young girl.

He said: “We always talked about it and my friends did it so I wanted to try.

“I’m the only boy in my class but I don’t mind.

“I’m really excited about the lessons but a bit nervous. In the audition we had to show off our skills and what we could do.

“I do tap, ballet and jazz, and ballet and tap are my favourites so I will enjoy it.”

Proud mum Claire Cinnamond said Cameron practices for about two-and-a-half hours every week.

She said: “He does practice really hard but it’s not just that - it’s like his feet can’t keep still.

“You walk along the street and he’ll start dancing. We are so happy he got on the programme.”

Karen Reynolds, 58, who runs KD Dance School on Stannington Road, has been teaching ballet to Cameron for around three years.

She said: “Cameron does have a gift - and as he is the only boy in the classes, it will be good for him to have some male role models to dance with and to give him input from a male perspective.

“He’s brilliant at remembering the steps. He’s got a great memory for it and everything we’ve done just seems to come naturally to him.”

Karen added: “He could go on to be a dancer at the Royal Ballet School. He would have to audition again, but this will really help.”