County Durham, England, 1984. The miners' strike has started and the police have started coming up from Bethnal Green, starting a class war with the lower classes suffering. Caught in the middle of the conflict is 11-year old Billy Elliot, who, after leaving his boxing club for the day, stumbles upon a ballet class and finds out that he's naturally talented. He practices with his teacher Mrs. Wilkinson for an upcoming audition in Newcastle-upon Tyne for the royal Ballet school in London.

吉赛尔（卡拉·弗拉奇 Carla Fracci 饰）出生在一个平凡的农户之家中，美丽的外表让她受到了当地守林人希来里昂的青睐，虽然希来里昂一直都在热烈的追求着吉赛尔，但后者对他却并无兴趣。某日，阿尔伯特伯爵（埃里克·布鲁恩 Erik Bruhn 饰）隐瞒了自己的真实身份，来到村里游玩，和吉赛尔一见钟情，吉赛尔只以为他是一个普通的农民。 之后，公爵的女儿巴吉尔德（托妮·兰德 Toni Lander 饰）和家人们来到此处的山谷打猎，受到了吉赛尔热情的款待，吉赛尔和巴吉尔德之间结下了友谊。希来里昂发现了吉赛尔和阿尔伯特伯爵之间的感情，他想尽了一切方法，只为了拆散两人。