A real life Billy Elliot who was bullied at school because of a cleft palate - causing a distorted mouth and nasal speech - says dance helped him to find his voice and now he “cannot stop talking.” Too self-conscious to express himself verbally, instead Connor Taylor, 26, threw himself into ballet classes from the age of 10 – like Billy in the hit film – as a positive outlet through which to express himself.
Enduring more than a dozen operations from rhinoplasty, or nose surgery, to bone grafts in a bid to fix his cleft – a gap or split in the upper lip or roof of the mouth caused when a baby’s face fails to join together properly in the womb – he also had hundreds of hours of speech therapy.
But Connor, of Plaistow, east London, who co-founded Adore Dance school in nearby Hackney Wick with his husband Joe Watson, 29, in May 2021, said: “Dance was my way of talking because I was so expressive when I was dancing. It helped me find my voice and I hope I can help others find theirs too.
