WHEN dancer Lesley Rollini had three sons, she never dreamed that one day one of her off-spring would be following in her foot steps.
But her son Matteo, eight, took up the hobby just over a year ago and has already proved himself to be a budding Billy Elliot – landing a place at the Royal Ballet in Birmingham.
Mrs Rollini, founder of the Lesley Rollini School of Dance in West Bridgford, said: "Matteo has only been dancing with me for just over a year; he actually started with gymnastics and then he decided that dance was what he wanted to focus on."
She added that despite her dance background, Matteo hadn't always shown an interest in dance.
"He started when he was very little, I took him along when he was about three to my little ones class, but I could tell he wasn't focused and he didn't really want to do it, so I didn't pursue it.
"It was only as he got older, seeing his brothers build up, he wanted to do the same, and he's the type of body shape for gymnastics, and they took him straight away and there's some dance rhythm in gymnastics and he just started to enjoy it.
"Now, he asks to come along to all my classes, even my private ones."
Matteo received top marks in his Royal Academy of Dance exams and has now been offered a place at the Elmhurst School for Ballet, in association with the Birmingham Royal Ballet, one of the major UK ballet companies.
Matteo will be taking up his place in September and will be balancing it alongside school at St Edmund Campion Catholic academy, with school during the week and ballet classes at weekends.
Matteo said: "I'm used to doing both and I prefer dancing anyway."
In May this year, the Post reported on another of Mrs Rollini's pupils, 11-year-old William Smith, who achieved a place at the Northern Ballet Academy.
Mrs Rollini said: "This is amazing and, for me, it's a double whammy as it's not only a pupil it's also my son, and only having three sons, I never thought I'd get this."
Mrs Rollini's school is one to watch as her other up-and-comers seem set for stardom.
She said: "I've got a little boy who comes to classes who will have to wait to audition next year because of his age, he's only been with me a couple of months.
"I've got some beautiful girls, too, I've already approached parents about them. One girl, she's beautiful and she's one of those dancers that takes your breath away. Her mummy said to me, 'you've changed my daughter, she now wants to dance for a career'."
