Ballet dancers from Harborough district selected for cast of English Youth Ballet production of Swan Lake
Five ballet dancers from across the Harborough district have been selected as part of the cast for an English Youth Ballet production of Swan Lake.
Florence Lovatt, 11, from Broughton Astley; Philippa Clarke, 14 from Peatling Parva; Joseph Boyd, 11 from Kibworth; Poppy Lane, 17, from Ashby Parva; and Olivia Elliott, 11, from Kibworth, are part of a cast of nearly 100 young dancers performing over two nights at the Nottingham Theatre Royal later this month.
All five ballet dancers are members of Caroline Carr Dance Studios, based in Kibworth.
The cast features 98 young dancers, alongside eight international principal artists.
The successful dancers were chosen following auditions at the Royal Concert Hall in April, attended by almost dancers.
The group of 98 dancers are now undergoing an intensive rehearsal period, training for 60 hours during 10 rehearsal days, prior to performances on July 17 and 18. Poppy, who is studying at Lutterworth College, said: “I started dancing when I was four years old and I did some fun dance lessons at nursery. I just loved moving around.
“I was extremely clumsy as a young child so my parents thought it would be a good idea to put me into dance to help with that.
“The best feeling about being a dancer is the incredible atmosphere from the audience when you finish a dance that you have been working so hard for.
“I hope that English Youth Ballet will help me improve my confidence whilst dancing on pointe in front of an audience and also learning to dance with people I have never met before and being able to create a production with them in four weekends."
English Youth Ballet director Janet Lewis OBE added: “English Youth Ballet’s aim is to provide performance experience to aspiring young dancers in beautiful venues close to where they live.
“The young dancers get to experience what life is like in a professional ballet company.
“They learn about developing their artistic and performance skills as well as improving their technique.
“I am always amazed at how quickly the young dancers progress and how positive they are when presented with new challenges.”
Tickets for the shows are available now starting at £21 from the Theatre Royal’s website or by contacting the Box Office on 0115 989 5555.