Canberra schoolboys and great mates Sam Holmes and Malakai Jessop have both been accepted into The Australian Ballet School in Melbourne, each achieving the goal after years of commitment, sacrifice and passion.
Sam, 15, from Farrer, is in year nine at Melrose High. Malakai, 14, of Macgregor, attends the Dance Development Centre in Spence full-time, also studying by distance education.
Both boys were also offered a place at the Queensland Ballet Academy, but chose The Australian Ballet School in Melbourne.
Sam said it was great to receive the email saying he had been accepted, noting it had been a "pretty tough decision" to choose between the two ballet schools.
"In the end it came down to a pros and cons list and came down to the smallest of things," Sam said.
Sam trains in ballet six days a week at the Jayz Dance Company but he also does tap, jazz, contemporary, pop and Pilates.
"I love it," he said, of dance. "I think that's the driving factor of it. Especially when you get things right, it's the best feeling in the world."
"The ultimate thing would to be a principal dancer with The Australian Ballet or one of the other big ballet companies."
Sam's teacher, Jemma Griffiths of Jayz Dance Company, was thrilled for both boys.
"We're very, very proud," she said. "There's been a lot of hard work and dedication and passion that's got them to this moment."
Malakai only started ballet when he was eight, coming so far in six short years.
"I felt ecstatic," he said of being accepted to The Australian Ballet School. "It was a big surprise and just an overwhelming rush of emotions."
He also puts in big hours across six days a week training for ballet.
"I want to become a professional ballet dancer and hopefully I can impress while I'm at The Australian Ballet School and work my way through the ranks there," he said, adding he loved to dance.
"It's the enjoyment of class and performing and just self-improvement through the art of ballet."
Malakai will be boarding at the ballet school while Sam will be moving with his mum Jayne, a big commitment for all families.
Jayne said her daughter Tahlia, also a dancer, was in year 12 next year so she would be staying in Canberra with dad Steve. It's a sacrifice the family are prepared to make for Sam to achieve his dream.
"He's been dancing since he was born. His sister danced already. From the second he could sit up, he was sitting at the side of the dance class, bopping along," she said.
"It's in him. It's been in him his whole life."
Malakai's mum Abbie Jessop has a special appreciation of her son's achievement.
"I'm just so incredibly proud of him. I was a dancer so I know how much it means in the world of dance," Abbie said.
"I was definitely never a ballet dancer, I was a contemporary dancer, so I'm just floored by the things that he can do, because I know how hard they are. And he's just always been naturally talented with the ballet since he started."
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