HE is the king of Spanish dance. Headhunted by the Spanish ballet company, Ballet Espanol de Murcia, at the age of 16, he toured the world to huge acclaim.

At 18, he founded his own dance company, Explosion. At 21, he beat the world record as the fastest male flamenco dancer.

You would guess he was raised in Seville.

In fact, his name is Jay Marwick, and he comes from Corringham.

He says: “I am quite happy still to be called an Essex boy.”

Jay, 22, and his company are bringing their production Explosion to the West End, at the Lyric Theatre.

Jay and his family moved from Essex to Spain when he was eight. By then he had already established himself as a formidable dancer.

He said: “I was football struck when I was younger, and it looked as if I had a future in the game, but one day my sister came back from dance class.” His sister described what she had done, and Jay copied the moves step by step.

He recalled: “I was soon dancing round the room. It took me half an hour to master what it took the girls two to three weeks to learn. After that, I gave dance class a try.”

Within ten weeks, the football-mad boy started to pick up trophies in junior ballroom dancing.

He remembered: “It just came naturally and took off. I’ve no idea where the talent came from. It was just out of the blue.

There was no family background in dance. My mum used to be a majorette, but that was as far as it went.”

The move, soon after, to Spain’s Costa Blanca came after Jay’s father sold up his business, and was not directly linked to Jay’s dance career.

Jay said: “He just wanted to spend more time with his family, in the sun.”