A BALLET dancer is making the right moves to take glory in his other passion in life - shot putting.

12-year-old Lincoln Walsh, who is a pupil at Malton School, is currently in rehearsals for a production of Swan Lake at York’s Grand Opera House later this week.

He has also won the Shot Put Yorkshire Championships and came second in the Northern Indoor Championships.

Lincoln, who lives in Malton, started dancing a couple of years ago, and trains at Kirkham Henry Dance School in the town five days a week, learning ballet, tap, jazz and singing.

He said: “I started dancing properly when I was almost 10; I remember almost refusing to go.

“I thought I was going to be judged by others - but now I cannot imagine doing anything else.”

He started training in shot put when his sister started training at the York Athletics track.

Lincoln said: “I train at the York Athletics Track, or sometimes in the garden, although I had to stop when there were holes in the lawn.

“Dancing has helped with shot put because I realised that the footwork is a sequence; it is just a dance combination that makes you throw further.

“Dancing has taken priority this summer because of the opportunities such as Swan Lake and Ryedale Youth Theatre.”

Lincoln will take to the stage on Friday and Saturday in the English Youth Ballet’s production of Swan Lake.

He said: “English Youth Ballet is a high standard company so because not everyone was offered a place it made me feel proud of myself.

“Swan Lake is my first proper ballet - I normally do musical theatre productions so this will be completely different.”

He added: “I want to go to dance college after school and dance professionally; maybe even teach one day.”