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11-Year-Old Boy Lands Two Starring Roles In Pa. Ballet's 'The Nutcracker'

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) --  An 11-year-old boy from South Philadelphia got not one, but *two* of the starring roles in the Pennsylvania Ballet's production of The Nutcracker at the Academy of Music.

Zy'ear Irving loves to move to the music.

"And you can feel everything that is going on. You can feel the rhythm, you can feel the beat," Irving told Eyewitness News.

Zy'ear discovered his love for ballet in the first grade.

Last year the Pennsylvania Ballet discovered the sixth grader and gave him a scholarship to the ballet school.

And for the second year, he'll step into a royal role as the prince and for the first time- as the nutcracker, too.

Zy'ear lives with his grandmother Cheryl Irving, who keeps the future pro organized so he can attend rehearsals six days a week as he prepares to perform in 20 out of 27 shows this season.

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