It may be easy to think male ballet dancers take a back seat when performing by letting their female partners carry out the beautiful moves.

But historically, men have been equally at the forefront of ballet since its emergence in Italy in the 1400s as a popular form of entertainment.

French King Louis XIV took part in ballets at his court and professional training stemmed from The Royal Academy of Dancing, which he founded to train ballet dancers to perform for him.

One male dancer who is following this lead is Lewisham-born 19-year-old David Webb.

He has recently been employed to dance with the Northern Ballet Theatre (NBT) after finishing his training with the prestigious English National Ballet (ENB) and is currently taking part in a UK-wide joint tour of Madame Butterfly and I Got Rhythm.

David started dancing when he was five and hails Michael Jackson as his childhood dancing hero.

After learning many dance styles at the Dorothy Marshall dance school in Plumstead, ballet soon became his favourite genre and he became determined to be a professional dancer.

He said: "You often hear stories about pushy parents but mine weren't like that at all. I had jibes from people at school when they found out I did ballet but I easily overcame them as I loved what I did so much.

"Most of my friends are dancers but I still have some friends from school and they are really supportive."

He believes films such as Billy Elliott have gone a long way in dispelling any stereotypes which may be attached to male ballet dancers.

He said: "The movie has encouraged many boys to start dancing. I was one of only two boys at Dorothy Marshall but there were more boys at the ENB.

"The film has encouraged people to go to see ballet too, which is great because they can understand how demanding a performance can be."

It is not only the performances themselves which are demanding David has a gruelling schedule which sees him training six days a week, plus sessions at the gym to build his upper-body strength.

He said: "It's exhausting but I'm an energetic person I love the turns and jumps involved in ballet."

The NBT tour has just arrived in London to perform at Sadler's Wells, Rosebury Avenue, EC1 until May 13 and David is very much looking forward to paying Lewisham a visit. To book tickets, call 0870 737 7737.