Schoolboy Kit Faulkner Reeves may only be ten but he has already learned to suffer for his art.

The youngster has had to put up with years of taunts and teasing but is determined not to give up on his favourite hobby, ballet dancing.

With his tousled hair and cheeky grin, Kit does not look like a stereotypical ballet dancer and it would be hard to imagine him in a tutu.

He is part of a new generation of boy dancers who are rebranding ballet's image as a physically demanding sport not just for girls.

Like most boys his age, Kit enjoys football and skateboarding. But unlike most, he is also a talented dancer.

Kit, who lives with his family in Beaconsfield Villas, Brighton, has been training as a dancer since he was four and has already been chosen to dance with the National Youth Ballet.

His proudest moment came when he danced the part of an Indian in a ballet called The Nursery Suite, which was written specially for the company at a gala performance at the Sadlers Wells theatre in London.

But Kit has learnt not to boast too loudly about his achievements, after having often been teased at school.

The youngster, who is a pupil at Balfour Junior School, said: "I had a few problems when I went to football.

"They used to tease me and say ballet was for girls but it is getting better now. I just didn't listen to them.

"I like ballet because it makes you really fit and is fun. It's stupid when people say it's just for girls because it is a fact it is not.

"It is good because when you are fit you are faster and stronger and can get out of a lot of trouble. I can spin round more times than my friends when I'm skateboarding because I do ballet.

"I want to try to do more ballet classes and, when I'm older, if my mum lets me, I would like to go to a boarding school where I can do ballet."

Kit's determination has even earned a grudging respect from his older brother, Woody, 13.

Woody said: "I think it is good how he carries on doing it, even though hardly anyone else he knows does it. I am proud of him for dancing with the National Youth Ballet."

Kit recently attended a special boys' ballet class at the Cecchetti Centre in London, where he was taught by top dancer Richard Slaughter.

Kit's mother, Moira, believes the film Billy Elliot, about a miner's son who defied society to become a dancer, may have changed attitudes to ballet and encouraged more boys to take it up.

She said: "At the boys' class there were 30 of them from around the country, which is a lot more than there have been before.

"The oldest was 16 and a lot of them were young ones like Kit. He had a great time.

"Richard taught them all kinds of dramatic leaps and things which they don't normally get to do. He said it was nice for him to do a class for boys because normally he only gets to teach girls.

"Billy Elliot was a wonderful film but in a way it was a wasted opportunity because it was a certificate 15, meaning a lot of children were not allowed to see it. In terms of Kit getting bullied, it would be better if the other children all saw it."

Kit is taught by Jane Worsley at Beacon Arts in Knoyle Road, Brighton.