He may be the oldest male dancer at a City Hall recital this week — but Cani Swan is not worried about that.

From Wednesday, the 16-year-old will be starring at the Jackson’s School of Performing Arts annual dance recital alongside dance brothers years younger than himself. “It used to bother me, but it doesn’t anymore,” he said. “They are my friends.”

Cani has learned to never stop trying after years of studying hip hop: an often frustrating skill which can see students fall hard and often.

“You have to keep going even if you fail over and over again,” he said. “I try to stay calm and focused and channel whatever anger builds up into the dance.”

He started taking classes five years ago.

“I saw the dance movie Step Up when I was 12 and I had to dance,” he said.

His friends and family were amazed at how easily he was able to imitate the movie’s dance moves.

“I decided I needed professional training,” he said.

Some male dance students experience teasing from their peers, but Cani doesn’t care.

“This is about me and what I want to do,” he said. “I don’t listen to negative comments.”

He’s loved dance since he was a baby.

“When I was little I would start dancing any time I heard music,” he said.

When he got older, though, he became interested in a diverse range of sports and did well in track and field.

“Track and field gave me the athleticism needed for hip hop,” he said. “Gymnastics helped with moves like flips. In archery you learn focus, and that is something very necessary to hip hop.”

He has stayed with hip hop because he simply enjoys dancing and moving to music.

“With hip hop I enjoy the satisfaction when my moves are right and my timing is right.

“When I’ve done things to the best of my ability the adrenalin rush is spectacular.”

He finds moves such as the front flip and the windmill the hardest. The windmill involves lying on your back and kicking your legs around your body in a circular motion.

“So far, I can only do one windmill,” he said. “It is one of the most challenging moves because you have to keep all of your weight and momentum going on your shoulders and spin yourself around.

“With the front flip there is a 95 per cent chance of landing. You can hurt yourself because you hit the ground really hard.”

But he says he’s never really hurt himself.

He is currently at Somersfield Academy. In September, he will enter the International Baccalaureate programme at the Bermuda High School. After that, he is looking at Tuskegee University in Alabama.There he would like to study both dance and mechanical engineering.

He loves constructing things and built his own hovercraft for a school project.

“They sound like different things, but they are not, really,” said Cani. “Everything boils down to a math equation.

“It helps me with hip hop to understand the amount of force required to make a move, and it helps to understand the geometry behind the moves.”

He’d like to teach his own dance class and choreograph his own dances.

“I’d like to use engineering to help students see the physics and geometry behind the moves,” he said.

Jackson’s recital, All The World’s A Stage, will be held from June 24 to 27 at City Hall in Hamilton at 7pm. Tickets are available at bermudatix.bm, Pulp and Circumstance and Fabulous Fashions.

Tickets are $39 for adults and $31 for children under 12.