In the film “Billy Elliott,” a young working-class boy from a mining town in northern England shuns boxing to learn ballet despite the fierce resistance of his down-to-earth family. Against all the odds, and thanks to the determination of his feisty teacher, Billy is given the chance of an audition at the prestigious Royal Ballet School in London.
Esteban Hernandez, a talented teenage ballet dancer from Guadalajara, says the film parallels his story in only a few ways.
“I think the macho thing is similar but I’ve always received 100 percent support from my family,” said the articulate 16-year-old, who has been studying at the Philadelphia Rock School of Dance Education since the age of 13.
What Hernandez does have in common with Billy is that he now has the opportunity of a lifetime to become the first Mexican to study at London’s world-renowned ballet school.
Interestingly, Hernandez was offered a part in the successful musical production of “Billy Elliott” on Broadway a couple of years ago. He said he turned down the opportunity after long discussions with his family.
“It’s good for publicity but not good for training. You can’t focus as much on getting things right,” Hernandez told the Reporter this week.
London is a long way from the backyard that Hernandez’s father, Hector, more-or-less converted into a dance school for his ten children. Esteban started ballet when he was eight years old and remembers a time when all the siblings were learning together at once.
Hector came from a working-class family in Monterrey and despite only starting to dance at the age of 16, emigrated to New York with only a reference letter from famous Russian dancer Rudolf Nureyev in his pocket. He later established himself in notable U.S. dance companies and now teaches in Guadalajara.
If his children are anything to judge him on, Hector certainly knows what he’s doing.
Esteban’s older brother Isaac was the first to make his mark. Now part of the San Francisco Ballet (the oldest professional ballet company in the United States), Isaac won many prestigious national and international ballet competitions as a youngster. It wasn’t long before Esteban was doing the same.
“I used to watch my dad giving classes to my brother and that’s how I got interested in it,” says Esteban. “My dad taught me for the first few years, which they say are the most important.”
Hernandez said the three years he spent in Philadelphia have given him an excellent dance education and weren’t such a big culture shock because two of his sisters happen to live in the city. Classes were long and exclusively dance related: from 10:30 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. from Monday to Friday, and on Saturdays from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. It left him little time to take regular academic classes. Instead, Hernandez brought textbooks from Mexico and went through the curriculum on his own, taking the relevant exams on brief visits home. “I usually get 9 (out of 10), sometimes 8,” he laughed.
Hernandez knows that living and studying in England would be a major step ahead in his life. “It’s one of the best schools in the whole world and offers the best training. It would be a dream to go there.”
The Tapatio, who fortunately holds a Spanish passport through his maternal grandfather (the tuition fees will be much less), is due in London for his first class on September 6.
A huge cloud hangs over Hernandez’ dream, though. Although his family isn’t poor, they aren’t able to fund their son’s living expenses while he’s in London.
“My parents tried to talk to the government. They’ve given me money before but this time we’ve had nothing, no answer,” explained Hernandez. “If nothing comes up I wouldn’t be able to go.”
The family will be rushing over the next two weeks to scramble together funds. If anyone knows organizations or anybody that might be able to help the family, the e-mail is enderezarte@hotmail.com.
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