A YORK student is raising awareness about body stereotypes with a short film.

Ellie Hawcutt, 16, a pupil at All Saints sixth form college, has launched a campaign with Fixers, a charity that gives young people a voice to speak out about the issues that matter to them.

Ellie wants to highlights the stereotypes she believes are associated with being a dancer.

She has danced since she was two and aims to challenge the notion that dancers should be thin and instead wants girls to embrace being strong and beautiful.

She hopes that by highlighting the issue in this way people will learn to celebrate all body shapes and sizes within the industry.

While studying for her GCSEs, at Manor CE Academy, Ellie was cast as the lead in a production and soon felt pressure to fit in.

She said: "I was surrounded by the dancer stereotypes that girls have to be thin in order to look good on stage.

"I succumbed to the pressures and began changing the way I viewed food and ate.

"I was still eating, but not the way I should. I felt really guilty and like everyone would be watching me."

Ellie believes the problems escalated when she began attending dance classes during her scholarship at a prestigious dance school.

She said: "I was constantly the oldest in each group and because everyone was younger than me they were more underdeveloped and I saw myself as much bigger than them.

"They were so different to me and it was because they were younger, but I just didn't understand that at the time."

Ellie thinks the media has a part to play in building unrealistic stereotypes and fears young people are vulnerable to what they watch or read online.

She hopes that the short film will raise awareness about body image in dance and that people will learn to appreciate individuality.

She said: "I hope that my resource will be shared in schools to show that anyone can dance."

Ellie's film can be found at www.fixers.org.uk.