'Billy McElliot' takes Russia by storm

AT THE age of seven, Aberdeen schoolboy Lucas Campbell turned his back on the ballet lessons he loved after bullies drove him to give up.

Now he is thought to be the first British man to graduate from one of Russia's most elite dance schools.

He graduated from the Perm State Ballet School after being spotted by a Russian recruiter in Britain, and is now a professional dancer in Syktyvkar, capital of Russia's Komi Republic.

But after four years in some of the country's remotest regions, the talented 20-year-old is struggling to find a job in Britain – or even in the European Union. The pay in Syktyvkar is about 20 a week and temperatures regularly drop to –35C or –40C in the winter, but Mr Campbell has had the chance to dance solo roles in classic ballets, such as Giselle and Swan Lake.

"The pay is terrible, but if you are going to be a ballet dancer, you do it for the job satisfaction," he said. "Dancing to people regularly is what it's all for."

Working in a place nicknamed "Little Siberia", he performs to audiences of about 800. "It's ridiculously cold in winter and stays ridiculously cold for most of the spring and autumn," he said.

Mr Campbell and his parents, David and Deborah, who now live near Northampton, are trying to find him a post as a dancer in Britain or elsewhere in Europe.

His mother said: "We're keen to get him back. He's living in really extreme circumstances in order to be a soloist and get good roles." The family has contacted several British dance companies, but getting home for auditions has proved difficult.

At the age of seven, Mr Campbell read an advert in a local newspaper for children to join a Scottish Ballet performance of The Nutcracker. Cast as a "bonbon", he caught the bug, but gave up after being bullied. He started dancing again several years later in a contemporary dance group at his English school.

After he did a summer ballet course, a former dancing teacher saw him and recommended him to the prestigious Tring Park School for the Performing Arts, where he won a government funding award.

Former teacher Helen Clarke told The Scotsman: "He oozed talent; I was bowled over. It shone from him, and it was really something special, though clearly he hadn't been through classical ballet training.

"For somebody that's had just a few years' training, compared to the majority of dancers that started at the age of three, he has done phenomenally well. He's just a natural talent."

A year later, a teacher from the Perm School in Russia invited him to join a three-year diploma course. It has trained soloists who dance all over the world.

Mr Campbell was recommended to take the job in Syktyvkar by a mentor. His company, the northernmost professional ballet company in Russia, has about 20 dancers and an orchestra. "It's not the Royal Opera House, but I've been dancing to a good number of people every time I dance," he said.

Other positions have been offered in bigger Russian cities, but visas and work permits have been a constant struggle. A move back west is "just the next logical step", he said. "I'd love to come back as a dancer, but that first step on the ladder is very difficult."