Young dancer wows the judges on Britain's Got Talent

Adison Austin, 17, from Smalls Mead, West Green, performed with the dance group Khronos Agoria - and got four ‘Yeses’ from the judges to go through to the next round of the competition.

Adison said this week that the TV performance had been a surreal experience. “After all the years I’ve been watching Britain’s Got Talent and how big the show is, to be on the stage in front of the judges, in front of the audience and in front of the group was just crazy.”

Adison has been dancing with the 21-strong group - all aged between 16 - 19 - since he joined the performing arts college, the Brit School in Croydon, two years ago.

The all-male Khronos Agoria dance company was formed by a teacher at the school, whose past pupils include Adele and Amy Winehouse.

Adison, a former pupil at Ifield Community College, was first inspired to dance as a hobby when he was aged just 10 after watching the likes of Michael Jackson “and then I just got more into it.”

He has performed with Khronos Agoria at the dance proms at the Royal Albert Hall and at the Move It Festival at Kensington Olympia, as well as performing in street dance championships and numerous times locally, including regular performances at the annual Crawley Festival.

He confessed to being ‘a little bit nervous’ before the BGT performance on Saturday, but, he added: “We have danced the routine a million times before but you have to get the performance down to neat and tidy.”

And it’s just what they did. As well as Alesha Dixon describing the boys’ routine as ‘insane’, fellow judge Amanda Holden said the dance troupe was ‘a real force.’ Fellow judges Simon Cowell and David Walliams also gave them the thumbs up.

Adison said afterwards: “I just hope that we can encourage other boys to try something new like dance, to overcome negativity that sometimes surrounds boys’ dance, even if we can get just one more boy into dancing it will be worth it.

“Our message is to just make boys feel more comfortable dancing and watching something new.”

Adison himself trained in ‘street’ dance but now does, he says, “every style from ballet, jazz, tap and contemporary.”

Adison is coming to the end of his second year at the Brit School, but is planning to stay on for a third year.