Blame it on Elvis.

It was the lusty gyrations of The King in Jailhouse Rock that inspired nine-year-old Paul Joseph Mercurio to dance. His mother, Jean, responded with her usual supportive posture and enrolled Paul in a local ballet school.

From there (with a short surfing break) it was on to John Curtin College of the Arts, a scholarship at the West Australian Ballet Company, and finally leaving his home in Perth for the Australian Ballet School in Melbourne.

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