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NAT SWEENEY

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The dancer talks Team Cheryl, Billy Elliot and wearing the wrong shoes

Nat Sweeney is one eighth of the dance group Brothers of Dance that made it through to the semi-finals of TV’s Greatest Dancer on Team Cheryl. While the group was put together by choreographer Dane Bates cherry-picking dancers from across the country, Nat is from right here in Brum and studies at Elmhurst Ballet School in Edgbaston.

We’ve watched the group’s moving first audition which left the judges agog and the audience voting en masse approximately 15 times and counting. Not that we’re experts, but it’s just a gorgeous piece of dance – athletic, strong, soft and touching all rolled into three beautiful minutes. (Nat’s the one in the red jumper in case you didn’t know!)

Also, amazingly it was the first time the group had performed together. Obviously, they’d trained together, but never performed. Nat says: “I was taking classes with Dane outside of Elmhurst and he messaged a few of his students and it all came together. It was really fun.” Dane says he selected the boys because they are all incredible dancers and that from the very first rehearsal they had a ‘unique connection’. The group’s versatility is staggering encompassing contemporary, ballet, jazz, commercial and acro.

UP IN THE AIR

As a male, Nat isn’t used to being lifted but on Greatest Dancer he had to get used to often being the one in the air. He said: “Being a boy I’ve never been lifted. I was usually the one lifting a girl, so it was totally new to me. At first, I was scared. I thought I was going to get dropped and I nearly was a few times!”

While Nat doesn’t get nervous, once on Team Cheryl the challenges were really testing with only a couple of days to hone each routine. “Dancing with the other boys was so energetic and we just bounced off each other,” he said. “I’m sad it’s over, but I’ve made friends for life.” He’s full of praise for Cheryl too who he says was the ‘sweetest and really involved’.

As a young child it’ll come as no surprise that Nat was a keen gymnast before he focused on dance. The first time he auditioned for anything was to bag his place at Elmhurst. He remembers: “I didn’t have the right shoes and hadn’t really done ballet before.” The school saw past the dodgy shoes, appreciating his talent and potential and has been instrumental in Nat’s development. He credits the school with instilling a work ethic that he’ll take with him through life. He says: “Work hard and always be on time.”

BALLET HERO

The connections the school has with partners such as Birmingham Royal Ballet and Birmingham Hippodrome have been crucial, resulting in experiences the students might not have ordinarily. One of Nat’s heroes is BRB dancer Brandon Lawrence. The school is able to attract top talent to work with students such as world-class choreographer Wayne McGregor who Nat enjoyed a workshop with. Juggling dance with academic studies hasn’t been an issue for Nat. He says it’s balanced: “Academic lessons provide a break throughout the day. A time to rest the body.”

Nat describes a run playing Billy Elliot aged 14 and 15 as ‘the best experience of my life’. He relished performing in front of thousands of people every day and says: “I just love dancing and performing.” In terms of what’s next, Nat just says he wants to grab every opportunity with both hands and run with it. If an opportunity proves a mistake he’ll be happy he gave it a whirl and put it down to experience. His ultimate goal is simply to ‘perform forever’. ■

ALL THAT JAZZ Ronnie Scott’s Charitable Foundation has awarded Town Hall Symphony Hall a £3,000 grant to support emerging jazz musicians from the West Midlands. THSH’s Jazzlines Talent Development Programme is a free-to-access initiative that helps young people develop their skills as jazz musicians and performers. Foundation head Fatine Boumaaz, said: “The work that THSH does to help develop and support new talent in music is vital and we can’t wait to see what they do in 2020.”

PENALTY TOP SPOT

Hallfield U11 football team won the Premier League U11 mixed football tournament at Villa Park. The team played eight games in the pool stages, winning five, losing two and drawing one meaning they qualified in fourth place for the semi-finals. A close match against Northfield went to extra time then penalties which Hallfield won. The final against Blue Coat was also a close run game with Hallfield scoring in extra time to win the tournament.

SCHOOL REPORT

STEM INSPIRED

Edgbaston High School hosted a special STEM Day to highlight the range of opportunities in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths. The school welcomed Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon, co-founder and CEO of Stemettes, a social enterprise working to inspire and support young women into STEM careers. The event is followed by a term of activities at the school, designed to enhance pupils’ STEM learning.

BRILLIANT RESULTS

Specialist independent Sandwell Valley School celebrated an outstanding set of language exam results at a special presentation. More than 200 family members joined the school’s 175 pupils along with guest of honour, deputy lieutenant of the West Midlands, Stewart Towe. Principal Mim Hall said: “We are enormously proud that our pupils have recorded a 100 per cent record in achieving level 5 in modern languages, with 70 per cent achieving levels 8 and 9.”

GREAT BRITISH CHAT

Students at Moreton Hall’s Leith Cookery School enjoyed a lively evening of chat with TV’s Great British Bake Off star, Prue Leith. In conversation with Moreton Hall’s Caroline Lang, Prue and her niece and professional pastry chef Peta revealed how a planned book on cakes and pastries evolved into a vegetarian cookery book called the Vegetarian Kitchen. They discussed the rise of vegetarianism and how vegetarian food need never be dull.

NATIONAL CHAMPS

Bromsgrove School’s 1st netball team was crowned National Independent Schools’ Cup Champions in a thrilling final held at the Sports Village at the University of Hertfordshire. Bromsgrove triumphed over Alleyn’s School, who had defeated Millfield in the semi-final. Bromsgrove achieved a 64-47 victory enabling them to retain the trophy from last year with Kitty Luscombe named player of the competition.

A Level 3 higher education student at BMet has been named Apprentice of the Year at a national industry-standard food awards ceremony. Stephanie Williams, who is studying a multi-skilled maintenance engineering apprenticeship in food and drink, won Food Manufacture Apprentice of the Year at the Food Manufacture Excellence Awards. Tulip Westerleigh apprentice, Stephanie impressed judges and beat off stiff competition from apprentices from companies such as Coca-Cola, Premier Foods and Weetabix. APPRENTICE OF THE YEAR

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