Schoolboy rugby star lands spot at prestigious Italian ballet academy
Shelli
2024-09-30 09:16
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As a youngster growing up in Belfast, all Oscar Hunter ever dreamed of was donning an emerald green jersey and playing rugby for his country.
Having been taken to his first since training session when he was around seven or eight, Oscar fell in love with the sport and continued playing throughout his teenage years, even earning a place in his school team.
Sadly, after sustaining one of a series of concussion injuries, the 6ft 4ins second row was forced to abandon his life's ambition four years ago - leaving him uncertain whether he would ever try his hand at another sport.
But that all changed last year when Oscar was introduced to the world of ballet, which, after months of hard work and training, led to him being talent scouted while performing at a festival in his home city.
Following in the footsteps of the fictional musical star Billy Elliot who defied his coal miner father to pursue his dream of dancing, the 18-year-old is now set to move to Italy after landing a coveted place at a prestigious ballet academy.
Oscar Hunter has landed a coveted place at a prestigious Italian ballet academy after swapping the scrum for the dance studio
Oscar , who played as a second row forward in rugby, is now moving to Genoa to join the Fondazione For Dance school run by the Russian Ballet College
The 18-year-old is following in the footsteps of the fictional musical star Billy Elliot (pictured as played by Jamie Bell in 2000) who defied his coal miner father to pursue his dream of dancing
'I'm six foot four now, so I used to play second row when I did schoolboy rugby,' he said.
'I started rugby when I was seven or eight. I remember one weekend I just didn't have a swimming lesson on and my dad took me down to Cooke rugby mini (in Belfast) and, like ballet, I just fell in love with it.
'I adored it. It became my whole world. It was something I wanted to do when I was older. It's all I ever thought about, all I ever watched.
'And I moved to Methody (Methodist College) - it's a very good rugby school - and I remember playing matches and enjoying it for a while.
'And then in about fourth year, I got a bad knock to the head. It was like probably my seventh concussion at that point from P2 or P3 and they held me in hospital for about a day, and I had to go to bed for about two weeks.
'And, at that point, I just thought, I'm not enjoying it anymore. The culture isn't that friendly. It takes something to be able to sap that much of a passion out of you - it took a long time, but eventually it happened.'
Oscar tried various different sports in the two years that followed before his mother Siobhan, who had always insisted her son had good 'ballet feet', suggested he give a local dance school a go.
Oscar is pictured showing off some moves at the High Points Youth Ballet studio on Alfred Street in Belfast
Oscar gave up rugby around four years ago after sustaining one of a series of concussion injuries
The former Methodist College pupil had fallen out of love with the game and was in need of a new passion
Oscar tried various different sports before his mother Siobhan, who had always insisted her son had good 'ballet feet', suggested he give a local dance school a go
'I remember trying water polo and running, swimming, football even, and just none of them clicked,' he said.
He then took a leap and signed up for a class at High Points Youth Ballet school in Belfast. He has been training with the school ever since.
'I remember going to my first class at 7pm on a Tuesday night and I was so nervous, but I just did the first class and I fell in love with it, and it became my passion,' he said.
'So, it really happened out of the blue. You know I never thought if you asked me 10 years ago, or if you asked me three years ago, if I was moving to Italy to do ballet I would have said "you've got the wrong person".'
The rare chance presented itself when a professional dance teacher who had travelled to Northern Ireland to give a masterclass at the Belfast International Ballet Festival watched Oscar perform.
He subsequently reached out to the artistic director of the Fondazione academy and she then made contact with Oscar's ballet school back in Belfast.
'She said 'send a few videos over, I've got one place left for this academic year',' explained Oscar.
'I only have about five photos and one video because I've only been doing ballet for a year and a half now, but she said, 'yes, come over and train with us for two years and see how it goes'.
'So really it happened in about 36 hours, 다파벳도메인 out of nowhere, out of the blue, and I'm just still in shock a little bit, but I'm so excited.'
Oscar then took a leap and signed up for a class at High Points Youth Ballet school in Belfast where he has been training with the school ever since
After 18 months, the 18-year-old is now set to move to Italy after landing a coveted place at a prestigious ballet academy
The rare chance presented itself when a professional dance teacher watched Oscar perform at the Belfast International Ballet Festival
He subsequently reached out to the artistic director of the Fondazione academy and she then made contact with Oscar's ballet school back in Belfast to offer him a place
Oscar, who flies out to Italy on Saturday, said his ultimate dream is to be a professional ballet dancer.
Having just received his A Level results - an A and two Bs - he had been planning on taking a gap year prior to receiving the unexpected invite from Genoa.
'I hope to make it to Christmas firstly,' he joked. 'But, after the two years, the dream is to audition to get into a ballet company somewhere in Europe or somewhere in the UK and do it full time, get paid for it, and I would just be so grateful if that happened, because ballet is a very, very competitive industry, especially when you start as late as I did.
'But, really, I just want to enjoy what I'm doing now. I'm just happy where I am now, and if I know I give it my all, I don't mind where I end up.'
Unable to secure the financial support that would have been on offer if he had gone to university, such as a student loan, and too late to apply for a bursary to attend the ballet school in Genoa, Oscar has set up an online fundraising page to help him pay for his training in Italy.
Having been taken to his first since training session when he was around seven or eight, Oscar fell in love with the sport and continued playing throughout his teenage years, even earning a place in his school team.
Sadly, after sustaining one of a series of concussion injuries, the 6ft 4ins second row was forced to abandon his life's ambition four years ago - leaving him uncertain whether he would ever try his hand at another sport.
But that all changed last year when Oscar was introduced to the world of ballet, which, after months of hard work and training, led to him being talent scouted while performing at a festival in his home city.
Following in the footsteps of the fictional musical star Billy Elliot who defied his coal miner father to pursue his dream of dancing, the 18-year-old is now set to move to Italy after landing a coveted place at a prestigious ballet academy.
Oscar Hunter has landed a coveted place at a prestigious Italian ballet academy after swapping the scrum for the dance studio
Oscar , who played as a second row forward in rugby, is now moving to Genoa to join the Fondazione For Dance school run by the Russian Ballet College
The 18-year-old is following in the footsteps of the fictional musical star Billy Elliot (pictured as played by Jamie Bell in 2000) who defied his coal miner father to pursue his dream of dancing
'I'm six foot four now, so I used to play second row when I did schoolboy rugby,' he said.
'I started rugby when I was seven or eight. I remember one weekend I just didn't have a swimming lesson on and my dad took me down to Cooke rugby mini (in Belfast) and, like ballet, I just fell in love with it.
'I adored it. It became my whole world. It was something I wanted to do when I was older. It's all I ever thought about, all I ever watched.
'And I moved to Methody (Methodist College) - it's a very good rugby school - and I remember playing matches and enjoying it for a while.
'And then in about fourth year, I got a bad knock to the head. It was like probably my seventh concussion at that point from P2 or P3 and they held me in hospital for about a day, and I had to go to bed for about two weeks.
'And, at that point, I just thought, I'm not enjoying it anymore. The culture isn't that friendly. It takes something to be able to sap that much of a passion out of you - it took a long time, but eventually it happened.'
Oscar tried various different sports in the two years that followed before his mother Siobhan, who had always insisted her son had good 'ballet feet', suggested he give a local dance school a go.
Oscar is pictured showing off some moves at the High Points Youth Ballet studio on Alfred Street in Belfast
Oscar gave up rugby around four years ago after sustaining one of a series of concussion injuries
The former Methodist College pupil had fallen out of love with the game and was in need of a new passion
Oscar tried various different sports before his mother Siobhan, who had always insisted her son had good 'ballet feet', suggested he give a local dance school a go
'I remember trying water polo and running, swimming, football even, and just none of them clicked,' he said.
He then took a leap and signed up for a class at High Points Youth Ballet school in Belfast. He has been training with the school ever since.
'I remember going to my first class at 7pm on a Tuesday night and I was so nervous, but I just did the first class and I fell in love with it, and it became my passion,' he said.
'So, it really happened out of the blue. You know I never thought if you asked me 10 years ago, or if you asked me three years ago, if I was moving to Italy to do ballet I would have said "you've got the wrong person".'
The rare chance presented itself when a professional dance teacher who had travelled to Northern Ireland to give a masterclass at the Belfast International Ballet Festival watched Oscar perform.
He subsequently reached out to the artistic director of the Fondazione academy and she then made contact with Oscar's ballet school back in Belfast.
'She said 'send a few videos over, I've got one place left for this academic year',' explained Oscar.
'I only have about five photos and one video because I've only been doing ballet for a year and a half now, but she said, 'yes, come over and train with us for two years and see how it goes'.
'So really it happened in about 36 hours, 다파벳도메인 out of nowhere, out of the blue, and I'm just still in shock a little bit, but I'm so excited.'
Oscar then took a leap and signed up for a class at High Points Youth Ballet school in Belfast where he has been training with the school ever since
After 18 months, the 18-year-old is now set to move to Italy after landing a coveted place at a prestigious ballet academy
The rare chance presented itself when a professional dance teacher watched Oscar perform at the Belfast International Ballet Festival
He subsequently reached out to the artistic director of the Fondazione academy and she then made contact with Oscar's ballet school back in Belfast to offer him a place
Oscar, who flies out to Italy on Saturday, said his ultimate dream is to be a professional ballet dancer.
Having just received his A Level results - an A and two Bs - he had been planning on taking a gap year prior to receiving the unexpected invite from Genoa.
'I hope to make it to Christmas firstly,' he joked. 'But, after the two years, the dream is to audition to get into a ballet company somewhere in Europe or somewhere in the UK and do it full time, get paid for it, and I would just be so grateful if that happened, because ballet is a very, very competitive industry, especially when you start as late as I did.
'But, really, I just want to enjoy what I'm doing now. I'm just happy where I am now, and if I know I give it my all, I don't mind where I end up.'
Unable to secure the financial support that would have been on offer if he had gone to university, such as a student loan, and too late to apply for a bursary to attend the ballet school in Genoa, Oscar has set up an online fundraising page to help him pay for his training in Italy.
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