At age five, Lamaar Manning had every punter in the Beehive pub on their feet as he danced for them on the sticky tables.
The locals didn't know it at that time, but that tiny tot would go on to become a professional dancing star - travelling the world while supporting the likes of Dua Lipa, Kylie Minogue and The Pussycat Dolls.
"My great nana worked in the pub," the now 26-year-old, who lives in Didsbury, told the Manchester Evening News. "We actually lived behind it at one point.
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"I was always dancing on the tables, performing. there were times I had the whole pub standing and cheering for me. I think that's when my family realised I had something special."
Growing up with his mum, siblings and grandma on a Moss Side council estate, Lamaar found joy in dancing from a very young age and used the hobby as an "escape".
When the family moved to Stretford, Lamaar joined a community dance centre where he began to take his skill more seriously. He formed a dance group and started entering competitions around the UK - even competing in an international championship in Las Vegas at the age of 14.
"At this point, I didn't even know I was going to make a career from it," Lamaar said. "I just knew this was making me happy and it was an escape from the real world."
At age 16, Lamaar knew he wanted to do dance as a full-time career. He was accepted for a scholarship at The Hammond performing arts school in Cheshire and graduated with the highest scores in his class.
Once he had finished school at 19, Lamaar was offered a contract on a cruise ship, traveling around Japan and China while performing shows for passengers.
On his return to the UK, he signed with an agency in London, with his first booking seeing him dance for Pixie Lott during a guest appearance on TV show The Voice.
Lamaar then learned his agents had auditioned him for UK singer Dua Lipa's world tour, securing a place following rehearsals in New York.
"The first date was in Miami and I've been away for a whole year," Lamaar said. "Sometimes there were 100,000 people in the crowds at the festivals.
"When I came back from England recently, it took a moment to take everything in. I think [moving around a lot as a child] helped me adapt quickly to my environment. I already knew that skill.
"Coming from where I come from, you have to be strong-minded. On the road, you're always tired. It's long hours and you're always travelling. Sometimes, people's mental health can get a bit low.
"But for me, I was good. I could cope."
Now back living in Greater Manchester, Lamaar has hopes of moving stateside and taking on the USA.
"I've supported one of the biggest artists in the industry, I've been on TV and award shows, so now I want to take it to America," he said.
"I'm really proud of myself. When we performed at Lollapalooza in Chicago, there were 200,000 people in the crowd. The next day you get overwhelmed and you can't take everything in because it's so fast. I used to wake up and bawl my eyes out because I just couldn't believe it.
"Growing up, I had to make sure I was strong, I could stick up for myself and I had a confident personality. But behind that, I wasn't really a confident person - I had to put that on to get through it. I never knew that one day I would be able to step on a stage.
"I used to daydream about being on stage, that's why I used to pretend I was on a stage at the pub."
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