Life has imitated art for one of the first theatrical Billy Elliots.
Londoner Liam Mower, 19, last night joined the New Adventures dance company - whose production of Swan Lake provides the uplifting finale to both the original film and the musical.
He was hailed by the group's founder Matthew Bourne for having "a little bit of magic about him" as he made his adult professional debut.
And the teenager himself revealed it is exactly what he had dreamed of - even before his 18-month stint in the stage show where he and his fellow Billys shared an Olivier Award.
"It was always my big ambition to work with Matthew, ever since I saw the Billy Elliot movie and Swan Lake with Adam Cooper," he said. "I thought, 'Wow'."
Liam, of east London, said he did not mind at all that his first appearance was as a Liquorice Allsort in Nutcracker! at Sadler's Wells, rather than the prince in Swan Lake. He will also play the part of Cupid during the Christmas season run.
The opening night went "really well" and was a "great experience," he said.
Liam had been "over the moon" to secure any job at all straight out of finishing three years' training with Rambert. "I feel incredibly lucky to graduate with a job at this time," he said.
But he admitted appearing in Bourne's ground-breaking production of Swan Lake with a corps de ballet of male swans remains his "ultimate ambition", adding. "One day."
The choreographer himself is optimistic. "I wouldn't have taken him had he not been wonderful," he said, though there are no plans to revive Swan Lake for two years. "I've got big plans for him."
Bourne, who marks 25 years of his New Adventures troupe this year, revealed the original Billy Elliot film script finished not with his Swan Lake but with a conventional production at the Royal Opera House. He said: "I didn't want that ending. I wanted him to be a rebel."
