FOUR budding ballerinas from Perth School of Ballet in Osborne Park will represent WA for a national competition and have their sights set on professional dance careers.
Perth School of Ballet directors Janine Ban and Simone Jackson-Pike have coached the four young hopefuls towards the prestigious national Lucie Saranova Awards in July.
Ms Ban said students all put in many hours of training for the upcoming competition to compete against “the best of the best” in the ballet world.
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READ NOW“These students are at the serious end of the spectrum, they are not doing ballet recreationally any longer, it’s towards their goals in the professional dance world,” she said.
“The commitment to becoming a professional dancer is huge and they have been very successful in national exams, all four of them and have shown their place in competitions.
“They are very worthy of this opportunity.”
For Burns Beach competitor Angel Wright-Warner, giving up school to pursue a career in ballet at 16 was a no brainer.
“I’ve known since a really early age that this is what I wanted to do as a career,” she said.
“I love it; it is an escape and once you’re on stage you just have that adrenaline and put all your emotions towards your dancing.
“I’m definitely going to be nervous because it is such a big competition and such an amazing opportunity.”
Woodlands 14-year-old Milla Brinsden said she has been training 25-30 hours a week.
“The most challenging part about it will be the open class, which is where the teacher makes up a class on the spot and teaches it to you and you have to do it on the spot right then and there,” she said.
“With ballet, I love that there is always something more you can perfect.
“It would be an honour to win the award.”
The Lucie Saranova Awards will be held at John Curtin College of the Arts in Fremantle on July 8.