2008–2010 
DANCERS UNITED STATES
We want to say to all the kids out there who might want to dance, “Never give up.”
—KIRIL KULISH, DURING HIS TONY AWARD ACCEPTANCE SPEECH WITH TRENT KOWALIK AND DAVID ALVAREZ
After months of preparation, this was it: the audition of a lifetime. Kiril had seen the movie Billy Elliot and, like a lot of other people, he was crazy about it. The movie, written by Lee Hall, directed by Stephen Daldry, and choreographed by Peter Darling, told the story of a boy from a working class family in northern England who fell in love with dance while he was supposed to be getting boxing lessons at a local gym—and then went on to become a dancing sensation. This movie had been turned into a musical stage play in London, and now there were auditions for dancers to play the part of Billy in the US production. The destination? Broadway, New York.
Kiril took a deep breath and adjusted his dance shoes. He took a drink of water and prepared himself—these auditions, he’d been warned, could go on for hours. The judges would want to see him dancing not just ballet but whatever his favorite dance style was. They’d also want to know if he could sing and what key he was most comfortable in. If he was picked for the part, he’d be one of three boys who would take on the part of Billy, and they would alternate performances in order to keep up with the grueling New York production schedule.
BILLY ELLIOT: THE MUSICAL changed depending on which boy happened to be playing Billy. The choreography was different, as was some of the music—even the keys were changed, requiring adult actors to adjust their performances depending on which Billy was on stage.
Kiril sat in the green room with his family, waiting, thinking, hoping—and finally, the door opened. “Kiril Kulish?” the casting director asked.
“Right here,” said Kiril, springing to his feet. He’d prepared, all these months, for this very moment—the chance to play Billy Elliot on Broadway. Did he have what it took?
Kiril Kulish—like Trent Kowalik and David Alvarez—was one of 1,500 boys nationwide who auditioned to dance the part of Billy Elliot when the production came to the United States in 2008. Like Trent and David, he was one of three boys picked to play the part, which would go on to win a total of ten Tony Awards for musical theater. Kiril got to share one of these awards with his two fellow Billys, recognizing their essential role in creating what the New York Post called “the best show you’ll ever see!”
Lee Hall, who wrote the original screenplay for the movie, was amazed to discover that musical legend Elton John had seen the very first screening of the movie and wanted to make it into a musical play. They’d met in New York to talk about the project and agreed that in order for it to be a success, the original creative team from the movie would have to follow the story into the stage production. They’d worked out the songs and adapted the screenplay for the stage—but everything, Hall realized, rested on the boy who would wind up playing the all-important role of Billy.
What’s more, they needed not one but three Billys, to make sure each dancer was fresh when it came time for him to go onstage. To Hall’s amazement, they found those three Billy Elliot boys for the US production, and all three surpassed his hopes. What’s more, he discovered that many of these kids were real-life Billy Elliots—boys who’d wanted to dance, against the odds, and who had wound up at the top of their field. He recognized their drive in the “sure, straightforward enjoyment of what they do” and noted that their pleasure in dance was simple, uncomplicated, and unpretentious. “To them, what they do is the most natural thing in the world,” he said, “because they have found a way of expressing themselves.”
Kiril’s family originally hailed from Ukraine, but he was born in 1994 in San Diego, where he was raised. When he was just three years old, his sister introduced him to dance, and soon he was impressing audiences both in ballet—as the youngest member ever admitted to the Junior Company of the San Diego Ballet academy to win the Youth America Grand Prix competition—and ballroom dance. (He was the US National Champion in the junior division.) And if all that weren’t enough, Kiril has also been hailed as a gifted concert pianist.
When Kiril was accepted to play Billy Elliot, he was thirteen years old. Now at sixteen, he’s living in New York and Los Angeles, performing and working on creative projects.
Trent Kowalik was born in 1995, and like Kiril, he was thirteen when he took on the role of Billy Elliot. Unlike Kiril, he was a veteran of the Billy Elliot musical by the time he took the stage in New York—he’d played Billy in the original production in London.
Trent also started dance at just three years old, learning tap and ballet and, later, jazz and hip-hop in Long Island, New York, where he grew up. But at age four, Trent began instruction in Irish step dancing at the Inishfree School of Irish Dance, and by age six he was competing at the highest level of Irish dancing. By the time he auditioned to play Billy Elliot, Trent was a five-time undefeated North American Champion and a World Champion in Irish dance, not to mention the youngest American to ever win the World Championship.
Because of this, the eagle-eye talent scouts for Billy Elliot: The Musical had their eye on Trent from the moment they began looking for dancers who might play their lead role. Trent attended auditions in New York in November 2005 and again in November of 2006. In June of 2007, when the nationwide search narrowed down to fifteen boys, Trent was in that group; eventually, he made the final cut.
David Alvarez was born in Montreal, Canada, in 1994, the child of Cuban immigrants. Compared to his fellow Tony Award-winning Billys, he started dancing when he was practically an old man—eight years old! When David moved to San Diego, he had the chance to study at the San Diego Ballet, with (you guessed it) his future Billy costar, Kiril Kulish. David also studied with the California Ballet Company.
Unlike the Billy Elliot in the story, David’s family has been behind his dance career the whole way. At age ten, when David was offered a full scholarship to the prestigious Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at the American Ballet Theater (ABT) in New York City, David’s family left the West Coast and moved with him to the Big Apple so he could pursue his dream. At ABT, he was a featured performer in several productions—and now that he’s done playing Billy Elliot, he’s back there, continuing his ballet training. Like Kiril, David is also an accomplished classical pianist.
On June 7, 2009, Kiril Kulish, Trent Kowalik, and David Alvarez won a joint Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical, the only performers to ever share a Tony Award for alternating performances in a single role. Since then, younger boys have gone on to play Billy Elliot, creating new opportunities for young dancers to step into the spotlight on Broadway and across America.
My favorite way to rock the world would be to become a professional dancer. Studying dancing teaches you to stay focused and develop self-discipline. I’d like to be someone like Mikhail Baryshnikov or Rudolf Nureyev. I’d also like to educate people about dancing, ballet in particular. Some people think that ballet is easy or that it’s only for girls. All dancers are athletes, but most people don’t realize that.
LUCAS THREEFOOT 
AGE 12