Eight pairs of knobbly knees visibly strain under the effort of performing a routine of not-so-graceful pirouettes and leaps.
But then these working men are more accustomed to the back-breaking toil of the coal-face, rather than the delicate beauty of ballet.

The remarkable story of the Avrillians – West Yorkshire's very own troupe of ballet-dancing miners – has been unearthed as part of a groundbreaking season of films celebrating the history and culture of the UK coal industry.

This Working Life: King Coal is a collection of rarely-seen films, documentaries and television programmes from the British Film Institute's national archive and on show at its Southbank cinemas in London and the Showroom Cinema in Sheffield.

The collection throws a light on a range of topics including the dangerous working conditions endured down the pits, the tough lives faced by mining families and the totemic struggle of the 1984 miners' strike.

But it also shows the immense pride and spirit of mining communities, with their brass band carnivals, galas and mining picnics.

And in the three-minute-long Balletomines it reveals the long-forgotten story of the eight Normanton miners who were ballet dancing before Billy Elliot was a twinkle in his mother's eye.

Balletomines was filmed in 1954 as part of an edition of Mining Review, a programme of mining news and light-hearted features which was shown at cinemas before the main feature film.

It shows a troupe of burly miners from the West Riding Colliery giving a performance of Delibes' Coppélia for charity at Normanton Central Town Club.

The men are initially seen in their blackened work overalls as they introduce themselves and the jobs they do. The camera then cuts away to a stage with a full orchestra dressed in dinner suits and a flimsy set of scenery.

The eight straight-faced miners appear, perched on tip-toes and with their arms aloft, and start their enthusiastic, if haphazard, classical routine.

The newsreel's commentator excitedly says: "If Robert Helpmann's a bit better, so what? It's all in a good cause!"

The film closes with a shot of a male member of audience roaring with laughter and showing a mouth full of rotten teeth.

Ros Cranston, a curator of the BFI national archive, said: "It's a lovely film and a real piece of history. There are lots of shots of the audience and it is actually quite sophisticated, in terms of film-making. It's very well shot.

"It was shown within a 10-minute long Mining Review cine-magazine. Each Mining Review would have about three different stories, each about three or four minutes long.

"These films were once shown in half of the cinemas in the UK."
As well as the footage, the BFI's researchers discovered the film's script, which names the eight miners.

They were: Jack Fish, Bernard Powys, Clarence Megson, Tommy Megson and Bill Megson (who all worked underground); Jim Turner (a boilerman/fireman), Chick Wilshaw (a screenhand) and Colin Plant (a clerk).

A "manager" named Mr Bafter is also mentioned but he is not filmed dancing.

Ms Cranston says that group were choreographed by a 18-year-old Normanton woman called Avril Panton, who also gave them their name the Avrillians.

They apparently also learnt the CanCan, although they are not shown performing this on the film.

Israel Downton, a storekeeper at the colliery and a popular local musician, was their musical conductor.

The Mining Review was produced by the National Coal Board and ran between 1947 and 1983.

It was used to promote the coal industry and partly owed its longevity to strict rules which stated that a proportion of films shown in cinemas had to have been made in the UK.

King Coal is the first instalment of a major three-year BFI project celebrating the UK's 20th century industrial heritage. Seasons focusing on the shipbuilding and steel industries will be shown in 2010 and 2011.

Films shown as part of the King Coal season include Meet the People, part of The Price of Coal TV mini-series, which was directed by Ken Loach, written by Barry Hines and produced by Tony Garnett, the team behind Kes.

It tells the comic consequences of the announcement of a royal visit to a Yorkshire colliery.

The Battle of Orgreave, the pitched battle during the miners' strike, and At the Coal Face, about the work of the National Coal Board Film Unit, is also being shown.

The BFI has also produced a two-disc DVD which features hours of footage from National Coal Board films, including Balletomines.

l The This Working Life: King Coal season runs at the Showroom Cinema in Sheffield between September 10 to October 15 and at the BFI at the Southbank in London from September 8 to September 30.

An exhibition which includes the Balletomines film shown on loop and a collection of posters and photographs is also on display at the Southbank until October 4.

* The film features on the DVD Portrait of a Miner and is reproduced here courtesy of the BFI.

To see more films like this visit the BFI Film Store by clicking here.