Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Billy Elliot

I went to see Billy Elliot The Musical after waiting about a year for its arrival in town. I own the DVD on which it is based and I have watched it many, many times. Some changes they made from the film were so powerful!

It is the story of a 12-year-old boy who lives in a mining town in England. Most of the men in the town are miners. His father is a miner, his brother is a miner ... As you can imagine, it does not go over too well when the family discovers his secret: he has an extraordinary talent, and desire, to be a ballet dancer!

One of the things that has always inspired me about this story is the conviction Billy had at such a young age! He was going to hold onto to his dream despite tremendous pressures not to. He tapped into that inner strength that we as artists and creative people do have, even if we have to dust it off and nourish it a lot over time before it breaks out in full force.