'Ballet dancing' gorilla caught on camera at British zoo

ATHERSTONE, England, April 14 (UPI) -- A young gorilla at Britain's Twycross Zoo is becoming a viral star thanks to a video of him "ballet dancing" around his enclosure.

The video, posted to YouTube by Helen Fairhead, shows a 3-year-old silverback gorilla named Lope twirling around his indoor enclosure in a style the filmer compared to "ballet dancing."

Dr. Charlotte Macdonald, the zoo's director of life sciences, said Lope's dance moves were evidence of playing, an important aspect of behavior in healthy young apes.

The clip racked up several thousand views on YouTube and went viral with over a million views on Facebook after the BBC posted a version featuring overdubbed ballet music.