When Jamie Whitley was 6, he saw a professional ballet production for the first time. He’d been taking ballet classes since he was 3, but he’d always been the only boy in class. Sometimes he got teased for doing what some people consider a girls’ activity. But as he watched a famous ballet called Don Quixote, Jamie saw male dancers leaping and spinning across the stage. “The dancers were very masculine,” he remembers. “I realized that the stereotype of male dancers having to be feminine wasn’t true. I knew I wanted to dance professionally.”
Today the 14-year-old dances full-time in a professional ballet program and often performs with Houston Ballet, the company that inspired him. But it hasn’t been an easy journey. Over the years, he’s experienced severe bullying for being a dancer, and he eventually left school to be homeschooled. But his passion for dance has kept him going. Now in addition to his own training, he helps teach ballet to younger boys. He hopes to show them that they’re not alone. “I love seeing them smile and be happy,” he says. “For me, dance is freeing.” Read on for more of Jamie’s story.