Actor George Keywood has voiced support for the Royal Ballet School’s new direction after its artistic director declared plus-sized dancers are “the future” of ballet.
Iain Mackay, who was installed as the Royal Ballet School’s artistic director last year, has embraced a more inclusive vision for ballet’s future.
In an interview with The Times, Mackay said that “audiences want dancers they can relate to” which has resulted in studios distancing themselves from the norm of “slim” performers.
This comes as Lizzy Howell, a 15-year-old ballerina from Delaware, became an internet sensation after a video of her performing fouetté turns went viral.
Actor George Keywood has voiced support for the Royal Ballet School’s new direction
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Thousands watched the mesmerising clip of the teenager executing the challenging sequence.
Many viewers hailed her as a role model for women of all sizes due to her confidence and technical ability.
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People Just Do Nothing actor George Keywood said: “I mean, I think personally myself, I would enjoy watching a plus sized lady do a performance more than a normal sized human being.”
“I think it’s quite impressive looking at some of these moves, and what she’s capable of doing for her size is actually quite baffling.
“To be able to move that well and be able to perform that great. I mean, it’s just it’s mind blowing the moves that she’s doing. So I think we should definitely encourage this.
“We’re not encouraging obesity. Of course not. But we’re encouraging her to be happy and be positive and perform with a good skill that she has.
“I think, you know, in some respects, she’s going to lose weight by doing it because she’s going to be exercising and working out more.
“So you could argue that actually this is exactly what we need to be doing.
“We need to be encouraging people that are overweight to actually take up sports and hobbies and careers like this to help them enable weight loss as well.
“I think it’s a win-win in every situation, basically.”
The actor said “we should encourage this”
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The prestigious school, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, enrolls more than 200 students.
Mackay revealed he kept his love of dance secret from his friends growing up due to the “stigma” of boys dancing.
The Scottish-born director, who trained in Glasgow before moving to London in the 1990s, shared a personal anecdote about his son.
“I took my son along to ballet when he was seven or eight and it was just a sea of pink,” he said.
“And he said no. I said why. He says: ‘I’m the only boy.’ There is that stigma, that barrier.”
