We're fond of saying that it's a small world, but sometimes a raft of unexpected connections brings that phrase remarkably close to a home truth.

When Shaun James Kelly was in his early teens, he went on a school trip to Glasgow's Theatre Royal for a performance of Romeo and Juliet. Not Shakespeare as it reads on the page or as it is spoken on the stage, however. School, for Kelly, was the Dance School of Scotland and the Romeo and Juliet he saw that day in 2004 was danced by Royal New Zealand Ballet – the company he is now part of, and which will briefly revisit Scotland with performances of Giselle next week.

Given that Kelly's first steps, in terms of training, were tap classes in his home town of Perth, he might well have ended up as a trouper-hoofer in musicals. He laughingly admits that there are lots of "embarrassing family videos of me as a little boy, dancing in front of the television or at parties – I just loved dancing, for as long as I can remember. I was really lucky – my family were super-encouraging, always. And when I started doing tap classes, I think we all kind of knew that dancing was what I wanted to do as a career, not just as a hobby."

The real turning point came when Kelly applied to, and was accepted by the Dance School of Scotland (DSS), based within Knightswood Secondary School in Glasgow. "It was a chance thing," he says. "My Dad saw the ad in the paper and said 'why don't we give this a try?' You don't always realise it at the time – but I would never be where I am now without the DSS. I'd never actually done any ballet until I started there as a 12-year old – and from the first moment in the class, I loved it. Didn't really want to do anything else! And the fact that it was fully Government funded – that was an absolute blessing for me. I'm part of a big family – I have four younger sisters – and there wouldn't have been the endless money for the private schools and tuition I would have needed to make ballet my career. I look back at those years at Knightswood – they made it happen for me. The training was absolutely amazing, but at the same time you were keeping up your other studies with the rest of the school, getting academic qualifications – I think a lot of parents found that reassuring."

In so many ways, Kelly's memories are a nod in the direction of Scottish Ballet. The late Peter Darrell, the company's founder/choreographer, had always lobbied hard for Scotland to have its own dance specialist/vocational resource and since the Dance School's inception there have been strong ties between Scottish Ballet and the Knightswood unit.

Kelly speaks enthusiastically of taking class at the company's old HQ in 261 West Princes Street, of being actively encouraged by the then artistic director Ashley Page and his deputy Paul Tyers. "The old 261 building was just up the road from our residency," says Kelly, "and you really do learn a lot from being able to observe the dancers in rehearsals, even take class or get to try out some of the choreographies. You come away motivated to grow as a dancer, be the best you can be."

His training subsequently continued at the English National Ballet School, and there he encountered Christopher Hampson – who is Scottish Ballet's current director, but back then was spending a great deal of time choreographing on another company, based on the other side of the world: Royal New Zealand Ballet (RNZB). Little did Kelly know then that he would – after graduating in 2011, and dancing with Tivoli Ballet Theatre in Copenhagen – head to Wellington and become part of a 37-strong company with a far-reaching (and well-deserved) international reputation.

When Danish dancer, Poul Gnatt, founded the company in 1953 it consisted of four dancers, a pianist, boundless aspirations and no money. No money for stage crew - the dancers humphed all the equipment, rigged each venue on their early touring circuits and then ironed the costumes before curtain up. No money either for even the humblest B&Bs. Instead they were put up by local supporters who piled into whatever space was available - pineapple-packing sheds included - to see New Zealand's fledgling national company.

Today, some 60 years on, even though RNZB tours globally, is a favourite in America and has gained fans by the legion in China, the company still takes a real pride in packing up sets, costumes and dancers and taking ballet out to small towns across New Zealand. The productions are larger in scale, and there are technicians and stage crews to rig and manage performances, but the original spirit of those 1950s tours seems still to the fore – as Kelly has discovered for himself since he arrived last year.

"I think, as a dancer, going out to these small towns means you really get to know what dance – classical ballet – means to those audiences. We recently took out our new production of Midsummer Night's Dream and the feedback we got was amazing. People want to tell you what they thought – they talk about all the other RNZB programmes they've seen, and they want to know when you're coming back. It's ownership of the company, but it's also about appreciating the art form and I think the company responds to that interest with a really strong and varied repertoire – you can have a classic piece like Giselle, but then in another programme you'll get a mixed bill with work by Javier de Frutos in it. It makes it more of a challenge for us, as well, when you get such a range of very different choreographers."

When Kelly joined the company in 2014, the artistic director was Ethan Stiefel, a former luminary of American Ballet Theatre whose stylistic accents really appealed to Kelly. "He was bringing in his own repertoire, and introducing work that I knew about but had never had the chance to do in Europe – Balanchine, especially. Choreographies, as well, with the whole allegro dynamic that I love – fast, lots of jumps. I'm quite a small dancer – I was cast as Puck in the new Dream – so I can really fly with it. Our new director, Francesco Ventriglia, is Italian – so straightaway you know that he's going to bring in his own kind of repertoire and again, as a dancer, you have a chance to learn which I think is what every dancer wants, and hopes for, when they join a company."

For this tour, RZNB are bringing Giselle, in a version co-produced and choreographed by Stiefel and Johan Kobburg. "It's very true to the original classic," says Kelly "but there are some little differences that I think help a modern audience to understand the psychology of it – not just why Giselle loses her mind because of how Albrecht has deceived her, but how her death and above all her eternal love have affected him since. I won't give too much away – but I think the way Ethan approached the story really works."

His own role in the production plays happily to his strengths. "I'm one of the wedding couple," he laughs, "I get to be very happy, very lively and there are lots of jumps!" Listening to Kelly (now aged 25) talk about RNZB – with its total lack of a ranking hierarchy and its emphasis on everyone being a company artist – you get the impression that he feels very much at home. Is there anything that jars? "Well, the time difference – we're 12 hours ahead of Scotland – makes phoning my family a bit awkward. I'll be going to bed, and they'll be going to work, or vice versa – but yes, they'll be in the audience for Giselle!"

And – a kind of coda to the joining up of various dots: Scottish Ballet's Christmas show this year is Cinderella – choreographed originally for RNZB by Christopher Hampson, who was working on it when Shaun James Kelly was one of his students at the English National Ballet School.

Royal New Zealand Ballet perform Giselle at the Festival Theatre, Edinburgh from Tues 27 - Sat 31 October details on www.edtheatres.com