Stuart’s steps to dancing stardom

Fancy footwork could help lead a Teesside graduate to victory in a televised dance competition.

Stuart Barrett is part of Guyz in Sync, an all male Latin and ballroom formation dance team. They have reached the live televised semi-final of Sky1’s talent show Got To Dance and will compete on Sunday 6 February for a place in the final.

Originally from Castleford, West Yorkshire, Stuart, 32, also works as a dance teacher. He graduated from Teesside with a BA (Hons) Marketing in 2000.

Guyz in Sync are the UK’s only all male Latin and ballroom formation dance team. The twelve dancers, aged 27 to 50, first came together to compete at the Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) sports event World Outgames 2009 in Copenhagen.

They clinched gold in their first competition and in August last year brought home silver from the Gay Games Cologne, retaining their title as the world's best all male Latin and Ballroom formation team.

I knew Teesside was the University for me Reflecting on his time at University, Stuart said: ‘I came to study at Teesside after coming to have a look around and instantly knew it was the university for me.

‘I had a fantastic time at Teesside. I met some great people and the degree has helped me throughout my career. I enjoyed being the LGBT officer at the Students’ Union and loved the nightlife in Middlesbrough.

‘My ambitions for the future are to keep dancing and working on arts projects and hopefully, one day, have my own dance school. When I was at University I couldn’t see how I would use the marketing theory in my career, but I surprised myself with how much I learnt and how it has worked in practice.’

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