Bullied ballet dancer wows judges, breaks down into tears after standing ovation

Jack Higgins really, really loves to dance. "I'm a full-time dancer," the 14-year-old announced during the introduction of his "Britain's Got Talent" audition. "I go to a performing arts college; I do all my education there and dance for the rest of the day," he said with a smile that glows with passion.


Higgins' ballet interpretation of A Great Big World's "Say Something" was graceful, even though several gymnastic sequences. After the standing ovation settled down, judge David Walliams said, "It was so moving. The passion and commitment with which you dance; every gesture, every movement, had meaning and emotion. It was really powerful."


Higgins has danced since the age of five, enduring taunting and bullying from others. "I was called names. They said it was for girls and I should do football," he told the judges. In the pre-performance introductory video, Higgins explains how he started out learning hip-hop dance, then took ballet and "the first class I just clicked, and it was like I just wanted to dance for the rest of my life."


Judge Simon Cowell said to Higgins, "You know the one thing bullies don't like? They don't like it when you do well. I can see how hard you've worked for this moment, and I congratulate you." Higgins, already blinking back tears, could only respond with grateful thanks.


The television show judges aren't the first to be wowed by Higgins' talent. Grace Adams-Short, principal of Studio 76 Performing Arts College, started a whole program for kids under 16 just so Higgins could be her pupil. "He's a lovely boy, and a very bright boy academically as well, so myself and my business partner sat down and discussed what we could do and we decided to start a lower school because of Jack," Adams-Short told the Liverpool Echo. "It wasn't cost effective for us to do it at all, but I believed in him."

Watch the video, and you'll believe in him, too.