A professional dancer whose Maltese heritage has become a major part of his identity is to star in a New York stage production this month.

Luke Muscat will take the stage as a soloist in Of Heart and Stone, a Captiveflow Dance production to be held at The Hudson Guild Theater at the end of May.

The production riffs off the Medusa myth, with Mr Muscat playing the leading role. He admits it will be a challenging role, but told timesofmalta.com he would be drawing on the resilience his father and grandfather fostered in him to succeed.

His grandfather, George, was a four-time water polo champion with Sirens in Malta before his navy job led to a move to Portsmouth. Life was tough for George, his wife and five young children, Mr Muscat said.

Mr Muscat feels so close to Malta, he had a Maltese cross added to his Bar Mitzvah kippot.

“My father would tell me of the many hardships they endured. The locals would mock their accents and foreign names and picked on them because they weren’t British,” he said.

He remembered the map of Malta and Gozo that hung in his childhood living room. “My father always spoke of life in Malta – of how despite its size it was strong and had a rich history of successfully people.”

Mr Muscat’s dream of visiting his forefathers’ homeland became a reality in 2008, when he and his family made the trip over for his Bar Mitzvah (his mother is Jewish).

“I was blown away by the feeling of community in Malta,” he said. “I visited my grandfather’s old home in St Paul's Bay and saw where my grandparents had met each other the first time. I left Malta with an overwhelming feeling of being connected to something beyond blood and land.”

Mr Muscat now has dreams of making a name for himself in New York's hyper-competitive dance scene. Having received a scholarship to attend the Alvin Ailey dance school and performed to audiences of over 2,000 people, he hopes this month's performance will help his career progress to the next level.