DURING the day he's a mild mannered estate agent — suited and booted, handing out advice to buyers and sellers in the property market.

But when he closes the door on the Bond Oxborough Phillips office in Ilfracombe's High Street, Dan Thompson transforms into a champion teacher of body-popping and street dance.

Dan 21, was "talent-spotted" by Jo Walker, who runs the Studio 20 gym in Ilfracombe.

She explained: "We already do dance sessions for youngsters, but it's mainly girls that come along and we wanted to do something for the boys.

"We had been talking about getting someone in to teach some break dancing and street dance, for ages.

"Then Gemma and I were just walking along the seafront on New Year's Eve a couple of years ago, when we saw this lad who started busting out some moves in the middle of the street."

She said it took them almost 18 months, firstly to track him down and then to persuade him to join the team.

"He just kept saying how much he loved to do it, but didn't think he was good enough to teach."

Jo and fellow teacher Gemma Bearman thought otherwise and now he's collaborating with them on a production for youngsters at the Landmark Theatre later this month — based on the hit film Step Up.

"The kids love him — he's like the pied piper with them all following him around town."

Dan said he's passionate about the dance that he taught himself and for which he has won awards.

"I just love it. My mum's a dance teacher so I did all the traditional dance as I was growing up — modern, ballet and jazz, but as a boy you get the mick taken out of you."

So he put up mirrors along an entire wall of his bedroom and taught himself body-popping and break-dance by watching Michael Jackson videos.

Later, he said, he and fellow dancer Jack Bourne: "used to go down behind the Landmark Theatre at night and use the car radio for music and the big windows at the back as our mirrors, to practice."

I love what I do and if I can pass that on and get some of the kids off the street, that's brilliant. It's seeing a real revival at the moment and is becoming really popular again."

Dan and Gemma are planning workshops for youngsters in the run up to the show at the Landmark Theatre on December 21.

Gemma is teaching the five to seven year-olds and Dan is teaching the eight to 11-year-olds, while Jack will be teaching 12 to 16-year-olds at workshops in Studio 20 on December 19-21 with the show in the theatre on the evening of December 21 at 7.15pm. For more information about the workshops and the show, contact Studio 20 on 01271-862019