February 20, 2019: Trooper Alex Smith of the Queen's Dragoon Guards is wearing his uniform and he's ready for duty. But today, unusually, he's in a theatre As a trained soldier, Alex has first-hand experience of what life is really like in the British Army - and yet he is also a trained dancer, having studied ballet, tap, jazz, modern and contemporary dance.

After watching his sister in ballet class, Alex began dance lessons at age six. He went on to for a course at a performing arts school in Cornwall and was then awarded a place at the prestigious Northern Ballet School in 2015 - yet half way through the course, he decided to leave because of concerns about the difficulties of finding secure work.

One evening Alex was walking home from dance school in Manchester when it occurred to him how to achieve greater job security.

"I walked past an Army's career centre and I just looked into the window for two or three minutes and realised maybe that is the next step for me, the next window for me to go through to better myself as a person," he says.

‍

Read more: The Soldier with a Secret Talent - Ballet (www.bbc.com)

‍