Drew Hedditch was eight years old when he followed in the footsteps of his older sister to start ballet lessons.
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The young Canberran's passion for dancing began at age five, when Hedditch started tap dancing so he could have a pair of black and white shoes like Fred Astaire. But it was a simple comment from the youngster to his sister that had his mum imploring him to enter the world of ballet.
"I remember one day pointing my foot and saying to my sister, 'look, its not that hard if I can do it', then mum told me to try it," Hedditch said. He has never looked back.
"When I was about 16 ... I realised it was what I wanted to do [as a career], and I realised that could become a reality."
Now 20, Hedditch joined the Australian Ballet last year and will take to the Canberra Theatre stage this week for the first time since to perform in Giselle.
As part of audience engagement, he will host a boys' day on Saturday for up and coming dancers aged nine to 14.
Hedditch said the aim of the day was to encourage other boys to give ballet a go.
While ballet may be seen from the outside as more of a women's stage, Hedditch said men certainly had their place in the ballet world.
"Every time you see a big lift, there is always a guy underneath pushing the girl up. It's not as simple as just lifting the girl, there is quite a specific technique to it, and you have to make it look effortless.
"We have class every day to refine our technique and build our strength."
While Hedditch said there are plenty of female-dominated classic ballets like Giselle, the variety of performance options means men get their time to shine often as a prince, or in male-dominated ballets like Spartacus.
"There are so many different and appealing things from many ballets I find it hard to pinpoint just one I'd love to do," Hedditch said.
"The biggest thing for me would be to step out on stage and be the prince, it would be an amazing feeling and it's been a dream of mine for years now."
As part of the boys' day, Hedditch will be teaching a group of young male dancers and the boys will get to see an Australian Ballet training class in action.
For more details on the boys' day, visit australianballet.com.au/boysday
Giselle is performing at the Canberra Theatre Centre from May 21 to 26.
