Growing up, Dane was torn between several houses and parents who were both, at times, unemployed. Once, Warren crashed through the termite-eaten floorboards and Dane wanted to be that powerful. Sitting under Grandma PattyвЂ™s sewing table, he watched another local boy вЂ“ Warren вЂ“ leaping out of sight. When pupils opened windows, the stone pelters stared at them through security wire. She ignored segregation to teach in Gelvandale, which was designated a вЂњcolouredвЂќ area. Gwen-Mary Wells, the ballet teacher, was white. He chanced on ballet because his grandmother made costumes at the local dance school, the Toynbee Club.

вЂњThereвЂ™s a lot of chaos in the street, but whenever you look out you see the ocean and somehow in your heart it makes you feel OK.вЂќ He saw a local boy crash through the termite-eaten floor and wanted to be that powerful вЂњAll the houses are right on top of each other,вЂќ he says. Dane looked out to sea as a child in Gelvandale. Port Elizabeth, as its name suggests, suits shipping containers. He approached the architect Adam Kalkin to design a dance centre made out of shipping containers, for when there are funds to build it. At the ceremony he announced his dream to use dance to empower the young in his home city, and he asked for help. Photograph: Karl Schoemaker/The ObserverДane won best male dancer at the CriticsвЂ™ Circle Awards in 2014, just after he bought the floor. The reinforced vinyl will soften young South AfricansвЂ™ landings itвЂ™s a shock absorber, protecting joints, and it withstands friction and heat.Д¬oming home: Hurst back in South Africa, where he first discovered his love of dance. Mark Baldwin, RambertвЂ™s artistic director, compares it to his desk blotter: вЂњYou can probably see all the tracings of the work that weвЂ™ve done for the last 15 years,вЂќ he says. All the roles that Dane has danced for Rambert, he learned on this floor. This floor is not just any floor: this is the former rehearsal floor of Rambert, sold when the dance company moved from Chiswick to its new home on LondonвЂ™s South Bank. вЂњIвЂ™ve recently bought a dance floor over in London and right now as we speak itвЂ™s on a ship being sent back here.вЂќ He tells Justin he wants to share this with other young people who want to escape the streets. What does a child do in all this volatility? Well Dane, he danced. What does aВ child do in all this volatility? Well Dane, he dancedДane is as alert as a cat to sudden noises though: metal being sheared in a makeshift workshop, a car roaring by, whistles from a corner manned by drug dealers. вЂњItвЂ™s amazing вЂ“ small world.вЂќ Neither man reveals any other feelings. To my surprise Dane says that his uncle was recently killed just here while washing his car. TheyвЂ™ve had 50 gun deaths in the past three months вЂ“ the latest a two-year old girl caught in crossfire.

He counts on his fingers: there are 18 gangs in the 1.5km from the old bus terminus to the house Dane grew up in. The man, Justin, tells him about the gangs who roam these streets. A man emerges from an outbuilding and Dane introduces himself, tells him heвЂ™s a dancer in the UK, but that he grew up here. ThereвЂ™s a TB clinic, an armoured post office, a liquor store and scrubby grass.

Thirteen years after he left South Africa, he has returned to the junction of Gelvandale and Helenvale in Port Elizabeth to show me where it was.ДЄ childcare centre stands there now, locked behind breezeblocks and barbed wire. T he school where Dane Hurst, star of Rambert dance company, learned to dance was eaten by termites and burned down by children.

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