Royal Ballet School graduates news

[Ondine]

Look at the numbers. The 'far east' is a massive area with a huge pool of talented dancers from which to draw.  I also suspect early training is very focussed.  Yet 'home grown major talent does succeed, as shown by those in the company now!

 

We do seem to be fine at producing male dancers right now, which is good.  I think it's also easier for boys in some ways as there are fewer training though numbers are rising.

Edited July 16, 2023 by Ondine

[LinMM]

I know topics like this (on other threads in Doing Dance) can get quite heated. 
The problem is we do live in a different  world to when the RB school was founded ….everything has got slowly more international. 
The Royal Ballet is a prestigious company and so has a reputation to keep up. It has to try to recruit from among the best dancers in the World not just the best in UK. 
It does mean that many very talented dancers may end up without jobs purely because there are less jobs  than there are dancers. 
If the UK didn’t have such a great Ballet Company as it does at present then I’m sure the best dancers from U.K. would want to get into the Company that was considered the best or one of the best even if that Company was not in UK ….just as currently dancers  of great talent from other countries want to dance in the RB. 

Certainly those dancers who do make it into the Company eventually from White Lodge seem to end up being among the best in the Company which  must be very gratifying for the school whether those dancers are actually born in UK or not! 

Sorry the above a bit long winded. 

 

[Ondine]

To add: I'll just leave this here, to ponder.

 

Luke Jennings 2008.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/theatreblog/2008/sep/18/british.ballet.training

 

I do wonder if we have rose tinted specs when thinking the company in the past was mostly comprised of British born dancers. Like Monica Mason, many were actually born elsewhere including Commonwealth countries.  Fred Ashton was from Ecuador and Margot Fonteyn spent much of her childhood and had her early training in Shanghai? 

 

https://visualisingchina.net/blog/2016/06/07/margot-fonteyn-in-china/

 

I think the British world has shrunk of course now we don't have a world map with vast tracts coloured pink!

 

Hard I know for little girls with ambitions to join the Royal Ballet, but look at Isabella Gasparini and her varied career path and it seems talent and hard work as well as the ability to grasp at opportunity gets some there in the end. 

 

There are other schools, other companies.

 

Everything changes and nothing can really be done to stop progress.

 

 

 

[Anna C]

For me, as an observer, it has been both fascinating, disheartening, and reassuring - the latter because, for various reasons, my daughter took another path - to keep an eye on my daughter’s very large peer group from Associates, summer and Easter schools, and a brief stint at full-time training, and to see how many are still dancing professionally (ie getting paid to perform).  I think I’m correct in saying only 1 or 2 still are. 
 

Of the two girls in dd’s academic year group who were accepted into RBS Upper School in 6.1, neither of them made it into the graduate year.  The problem for British trained girls is not just being accepted into White Lodge, it’s staying at White Lodge for the full 5 years, then getting a place at Upper School, but then lasting the whole 3 years at Upper School and graduating from RBS.  It’s almost impossible, and if White Lodge is to remain a feeder school for RBS Upper School, then at some point, questions probably need to be answered about why more British *trained* - particularly WL and RBS 6.1 and 6.2 trained girls are suddenly not sufficiently well trained to graduate from 6.3.
 

This isn’t a new problem of course, and staying the 3 year course, graduating, and getting a contract is difficult at any ballet school.  Plus, Royal Ballet would not be one of the foremost companies in the world without global talent.  Imagine the company without Nuñez, Kaneko, Choe, Muntagirov, Osipova, as well as Naghdi, Ball, Cuthbertson, Bracewell, Hayward and Campbell?  
 

I don’t give two hoots where a dancer was born; we are incredibly lucky that RB attracts such outstanding dancers from all over the world.  But that’s a different issue to the problem of the disconnect between White Lodge, Upper School, and graduate year at RBS.  
 

 

 

[Guest oncnp]

4 minutes ago, Anna C said:

F
 

This isn’t a new problem of course, and staying the 3 year course, graduating, and getting a contract is difficult at any ballet school.  Plus, Royal Ballet would not be one of the foremost companies in the world without global talent.  Imagine the company without Nuñez, Kaneko, Choe, Muntagirov, Osipova, as well as Naghdi, Ball, Cuthbertson, Bracewell, Hayward and Campbell?  
 

Campbell is Australian, is he not?

[Anna C]

1 minute ago, oncnp said:

Campbell is Australian, is he not?

My bad, he is indeed.  

[Peony]

I see why the most senior positions would require recruitment from multiple sources, it’s to be expected. However I’ve got to say I’m increasingly troubled by the abysmal continuation rate from WL to US to company. Both because I think I’d rather have a corps with a uniform style and for that style to suit the British repertoire and also that RBS receive a lot of public funding and if they’re not able to adequately train the children they select there is something wrong. Some of the dancers that are selected for a short spell at US from competitions etc are obviously very talented and destined for principal, but it doesn’t seem to me that every dancer starting at US is more talented than the kids graduating WL

[Bluebird]

16 hours ago, Ondine said:

Wasn't First Soloist Claire Calvert the only one from WL in her year to make it to the upper school?

 

No, I've just checked her Year 11 class list and 8 female students and 10 male students, from her Year 11 class, were accepted by the Upper School.

 

16 hours ago, Ondine said:

Or was that into the company?

 

Yes, she was the only White Lodge student from her year to be accepted into the Company.  Four RBS students were taken into the Company that year, Claire, Elsa Goddard, Kevin Emerton and Sergey Polunin

[capybara]

 

In the light of the discussion above, it's interesting to note the various routes followed by the RB's current roster of Principals. [US= Upper School; ? indicates uncertainty as to the number of years spent at the US.]

 

Matthew Ball: White Lodge; 3 years+ at US 

William Bracewell: White Lodge; 3 years at US; then BRB; moved to the RB as a Soloist

Alexander Campbell: ?2 years at US after Prix de Lausanne; then BRB; moved to the RB as a Soloist

Reece Clarke: White Lodge; 2+ years at US (taken into the RB early in his 3rd year at US)

Cesar Corrales: Principal at ENB; joined the RB as a First Soloist

Lauren Cuthertson: White Lodge; ?2 years at US

Francesca Hayward: White Lodge; 3 years at US

Ryoichi Hirano: Prix de Lausanne Apprentice with the RB

Fumi Kaneko: joined the RB as an Artist after competition wins in Varna, Moscow and the USA and dancing Principal roles in Japan

Sarah Lamb: Principal in Boston; joined the RB as a First Soloist

Mayara Magri: ? 1 year at US after Prix de Lausanne

Steven McRae: 1 year at US after Prix de Lausanne

Vadim Muntagirov: 3 years at US after Prix de Lausanne (although he says in his book that he was given the opportunity to skip the second year); Leading Principal at ENB; joined the RB as a Principal

Yasmine Naghdi: White Lodge; 1.6 years at US (moved from first year to third year at US and joined the RB the following April)

Marianela Nunez: 1 year at US while awaiting her 16th birthday when she could join the Company

Natalia Osipova: Principal at The Bolshoi; guested with the RB then joined as a Principal

Anna Rose O'Sullivan: White Lodge; 2 years+ at US (taken into the RB early in her 3rd year at US)

Marcelino Sambe: ? 2/3 years+ at US (taken into the RB early in his 3rd year at US)

Akane Takada: Prix de Lausanne Apprentice with the RB

 

Happy to be corrected!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Anna C]

Thank you, capybara, that must have taken you a while to collate! 
 

I just had a look to see when Christopher Powney was appointed as Artistic Director of RBS, and it was 2014.  So those Principals above who came up through White Lodge, into US (whether for 1, 2, or 3 years), and then into the company, would have been at RBS prior to 2014, presumably when the late Gailene Stock was still AD (or when Jay Jolley was interim AD)?

 

I wonder if the number of White Lodge trained dancers making it into the graduate year at Upper School has changed since Mr Powney took over, and by how much? 

[Sim]

I am not a dance mum, so I'm not emotionally invested in this discussion, but as a ballet lover my main concern is not where students are born, but that anyone graduating into the company has spent enough time going through the RB schools (WL and UBS) that there is some kind of unity of style, and that what is still left of the 'English style' of ballet doesn't get lost into a mishmash of different training backgrounds.  

[Pointytoes]

On 16/07/2023 at 17:53, Jan McNulty said:

So hearsay not personal experience @Kerfuffle.  

Not hearsay I can confirm this to be true  as a parent of a year 11 student from this years cohort. 

[Pointytoes]

22 hours ago, Anna C said:

For me, as an observer, it has been both fascinating, disheartening, and reassuring - the latter because, for various reasons, my daughter took another path - to keep an eye on my daughter’s very large peer group from Associates, summer and Easter schools, and a brief stint at full-time training, and to see how many are still dancing professionally (ie getting paid to perform).  I think I’m correct in saying only 1 or 2 still are. 
 

Of the two girls in dd’s academic year group who were accepted into RBS Upper School in 6.1, neither of them made it into the graduate year.  The problem for British trained girls is not just being accepted into White Lodge, it’s staying at White Lodge for the full 5 years, then getting a place at Upper School, but then lasting the whole 3 years at Upper School and graduating from RBS.  It’s almost impossible, and if White Lodge is to remain a feeder school for RBS Upper School, then at some point, questions probably need to be answered about why more British *trained* - particularly WL and RBS 6.1 and 6.2 trained girls are suddenly not sufficiently well trained to graduate from 6.3.
 

This isn’t a new problem of course, and staying the 3 year course, graduating, and getting a contract is difficult at any ballet school.  Plus, Royal Ballet would not be one of the foremost companies in the world without global talent.  Imagine the company without Nuñez, Kaneko, Choe, Muntagirov, Osipova, as well as Naghdi, Ball, Cuthbertson, Bracewell, Hayward and Campbell?  
 

I don’t give two hoots where a dancer was born; we are incredibly lucky that RB attracts such outstanding dancers from all over the world.  But that’s a different issue to the problem of the disconnect between White Lodge, Upper School, and graduate year at RBS.  
 

 

 

Totally agree with the above statent. However, the real problem begins earlier and what must be looked at is the quality of training in the lower school. Female students are unable to reach the levels needed to compete with students who are hot housed and are trained extensively and often privately for competitions. A class a day at the bar simply does not cut it. 
Absolutely, make this school an international one, bring in the best but train those young students who begin in year 7 and have been talent identified by the AD to the standards required. Please do not have parents buy into the English De Valois dream, it is dead. Remove the patronage if it is now an international Academy lead by an AD who serves as a talent scout globally. But please do not pass these students off statistically as being ‘ Royal Ballet trained’. There are many amazing international dancers. This is not about race or ethnicity, it is about what the purpose is of RB lower school is and the quality of training it provides especially for the young students it takes in.This is an issue that cannot be ignored.

[taxi4ballet]

What concerns me is that students at White Lodge are funded by the MDS scheme (if they qualify for funding) but most of them do not then continue into the upper school and into the company or into other prestigious companies. The funding body might well look at the success of the MDS scheme and wonder whether their money is being well spent, bearing in mind how few funded students complete their training. They might decide that perhaps MDS funding is not the best use of taxpayers' money, at this school or at the others offering the same scheme, if the students don't go on to complete their training and find employment. It might call the entire performing arts funding system into question, and where would that leave talented British youngsters whose parents can't afford full fees?

 

We are at a time when the government is looking very hard at degree courses, the drop-out rate and whether the graduates of those courses go on to successful careers in that field. They might widen the net and look at funding for performing arts courses as well. 

[Jan McNulty]

1 hour ago, Pointytoes said:

Not hearsay I can confirm this to be true  as a parent of a year 11 student from this years cohort. 

 

If it is not personal experience as explained in the AUP then it is hearsay.

 

If you, as a parent, are talking about your DC and your experiences then that is personal experience.

[Pointytoes]

1 minute ago, Jan McNulty said:

 

If it is not personal experience as explained in the AUP then it is hearsay.

 

If you, as a parent, are talking about your DC and your experiences then that is personal experience.

I can confirm it is. 

[Jan McNulty]

1 minute ago, Pointytoes said:

I can confirm it is. 

 

But the OP's post was hearsay as she had no personal experience.

 

If you wish to write your own post with your experiences that is fine.

[Jan McNulty]

4 minutes ago, Pointytoes said:

I can confirm it is. 

 

I'm sorry PT and perhaps I am being pedantic but all you are confirming is hearsay.

 

Please post your experiences.

[Ondine]

Agree with all that @Pointytoes  and @taxi4ballet say.  Look at interviews with many young dancers from other countries and yes, hothoused, often home schooled, to fit the ballet classes in, trained like racehorses for competition.  It's not the 'nice gels doing ballet' mindset of the Veronica at The Wells books!  It's not 'one class a day, Morris & folk dancing and a syllabus class Saturdays' students in other countries are getting I'm sure.

 

White Lodge is the tip of the apex too,  look at all the work going on around the country to find young talent with various RBS schemes!  Yes dance is a worthwhile activity in itself, and an informed audience is always a bonus, but for that there are local ballet schools. Giving hope and feeding dreams which will never be realised for most by the current training at White Lodge is eating up so many childhoods, and wider family life must suffer too.

 

Luke Jennings again, this time in 2012. He's well worth a few minutes as with the 2008 piece I linked above.

 

The parents of Sam Lee, from Dagenham, knew next to nothing about ballet when Sam was introduced to dance by the Royal Ballet's Primary Steps scheme, which sends accredited teachers into schools. Now Sam's at White Lodge. "You see dancers like Carlos Acosta and it's inspiring. The training's hard, but I tell myself don't give up. Carry on!" Sam's attitude suggests that he may have the right stuff to make it. But he's going to need every ounce of that determination.

 

Did Sam make it?

 

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2012/mar/25/will-they-make-royal-ballet

 

Over the years, however, the odds against home-grown British students fulfilling this ambition have steadily lengthened. Statistically, only around a quarter of those first-year White Lodge students are likely even to graduate from the Upper School, let alone be considered for a place in the company. The Royal Ballet and its schools comprise the nation's flagship classical dance establishment, so why are the odds so comprehensively stacked against British children? Jane Hackett, a former director of the English National Ballet School and the Central School of Ballet, now co-director of creative learning for Sadler's Wells Theatre, is concerned by the figures. "It's inexplicable, when you look at the amount of money invested in British ballet, that such a very small percentage of British dancers are graduating and progressing through companies."

 

 

It's become such big buslness now, has ballet, all the extras and what used to be called summer schools which are now given much fancier names and are far more competitive than they were. Not much of it is free.

 

So much handwringing over so many years and yet, here we are.

 

 

[Pointytoes]

Indeed, here we are at ground zero. 
Three years from now, the RB celebrate their centenary. The leaving year 11 students have been closely followed by a BBC documentary since year 7. In the centenary year, no English female will graduate RB upper school. 
Not exactly a fine inditement of Madame’s legacy. Todays thoughts after all that supposed talent searching. 
 

[balletfanatic]

23 minutes ago, Ondine said:

Agree with all that @Pointytoes  and @taxi4ballet say.  Look at interviews with many young dancers from other countries and yes, hothoused, often home schooled, to fit the ballet classes in, trained like racehorses for competition.  It's not the 'nice gels doing ballet' mindset of the Veronica at The Wells books!  It's not 'one class a day, Morris & folk dancing and a syllabus class Saturdays' students in other countries are getting I'm sure.

 

White Lodge is the tip of the apex too,  look at all the work going on around the country to find young talent with various RBS schemes!  Yes dance is a worthwhile activity in itself, and an informed audience is always a bonus, but for that there are local ballet schools. Giving hope and feeding dreams which will never be realised for most by the current training at White Lodge is eating up so many childhoods, and wider family life must suffer too.

 

Luke Jennings again, this time in 2012. He's well worth a few minutes as with the 2008 piece I linked above.

 

The parents of Sam Lee, from Dagenham, knew next to nothing about ballet when Sam was introduced to dance by the Royal Ballet's Primary Steps scheme, which sends accredited teachers into schools. Now Sam's at White Lodge. "You see dancers like Carlos Acosta and it's inspiring. The training's hard, but I tell myself don't give up. Carry on!" Sam's attitude suggests that he may have the right stuff to make it. But he's going to need every ounce of that determination.

 

Did Sam make it?

 

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2012/mar/25/will-they-make-royal-ballet

 

Over the years, however, the odds against home-grown British students fulfilling this ambition have steadily lengthened. Statistically, only around a quarter of those first-year White Lodge students are likely even to graduate from the Upper School, let alone be considered for a place in the company. The Royal Ballet and its schools comprise the nation's flagship classical dance establishment, so why are the odds so comprehensively stacked against British children? Jane Hackett, a former director of the English National Ballet School and the Central School of Ballet, now co-director of creative learning for Sadler's Wells Theatre, is concerned by the figures. "It's inexplicable, when you look at the amount of money invested in British ballet, that such a very small percentage of British dancers are graduating and progressing through companies."

 

 

It's become such big buslness now, has ballet, all the extras and what used to be called summer schools which are now given much fancier names and are far more competitive than they were. Not much of it is free.

 

So much handwringing over so many years and yet, here we are.

 

 

Does anyone know if any of the students mentioned in the article did make it as professional dancers? 

[Anna C]

19 minutes ago, Ondine said:

Luke Jennings again, this time in 2012. He's well worth a few minutes as with the 2008 piece I linked above.

 

The parents of Sam Lee, from Dagenham, knew next to nothing about ballet when Sam was introduced to dance by the Royal Ballet's Primary Steps scheme, which sends accredited teachers into schools. Now Sam's at White Lodge. "You see dancers like Carlos Acosta and it's inspiring. The training's hard, but I tell myself don't give up. Carry on!" Sam's attitude suggests that he may have the right stuff to make it. But he's going to need every ounce of that determination.

 

Did Sam make it?

 

Funnily enough, I was re-reading that very article this afternoon, and did a bit of Google-sleuthing to see if Sam Lee is still dancing.  From his (public) LinkedIn profile, it looks as if he did complete all 5 years at White Lodge, but then went to an academic school to take A’Levels, and on to University to study engineering.   

[Anna C]

8 minutes ago, balletfanatic said:

Does anyone know if any of the students mentioned in the article did make it as professional dancers? 

I think the only other student whose full name was mentioned was Evie Ball.  All I could deduce was that she did graduate from Upper School, but after that, I don’t know.

[Ondine]

1 minute ago, Anna C said:

he did complete all 5 years at White Lodge,

 

Thanks.  I tried googling too but didn't delve enough to find out!

 

I wonder if it was his choice to not carry on, or was he not chosen for US?

 

However, at least he gained a career in hopefully something he wanted to do, is longer lasting and I wish him well.

 

Yet all that training, all that work & cash investment in so many youngsters... it surely can't go on!

 

 

[Prancer]

As has been said before, the very very low retention rate of UK girls at WL begs two questions: are they selecting Y7 girls on the right basis and is the training good enough? If the answer to both questions is yes then what else can be behind the low retention rate? 

[Peony]

A lot of the other well established schools have a similar academic/ dance boarding school set up as RBS. I’m not sure how actual hours compare but it’s certainly not everyone who is home schooled/ hothoused. 

[DD Driver]

My personal experience is with a DD who trains privately but has had short term visits at top vocational schools.

If you are at a vocational school from a young age then you will have experienced a type of training that is quite different from those in private studios.

 

My DD has had a LOT of performance experience from small local stages through to the big venues.  She has performed solos & group work for many years. Often this is dancing in a competitive situation, with feedback.  She has done many master classes under audition conditions.  She has been expected to pick up choreo from 1 demonstration & perform it.  Sometimes these situations have an audience or a camera.  That is tremendous pressure with many hard knocks & reality checks.  The more you do the better you get at handling it.

 

Her peers at vocational schools do less hours and there is an emphasis on going back to the basics - for longer.  Even through to 16 years old!  These students operate in a class of students on the same journey.  There is an expectation or hope of still being together next year.  The training pathway is given to them and they are asked not to see other coaches or do more.  In contrast, my DD works in a class but has more individual responsibility & opportunities to work out her own schedule & next steps. There are pro's & cons to all of this but it is certainly a different approach. PS The Ballet world is crazy. 

Edited July 17, 2023 by DD Driver

[Ondine]

The ballet world is certainly crazy. There are so many routes to success, but it appears a place at White Lodge guarantees nothing beyond that.

 

I'll just leave this here.  Many are called and VERY few are chosen for this school.

 

https://www.monaco-tribune.com/en/2020/10/video-behind-the-scenes-at-one-of-the-worlds-most-exclusive-dance-academies/

 

BTW  US dancer Darrion Sellman,  Prix De Lausanne 'apprentice' 2022-3 with the Royal Ballet and now off with a contract to the Royal Swedish Ballet, can be added to the list of winners.

 

https://www.hellomonaco.com/news/latest-news/unprecedented-multiple-winner-princess-grace-academy-sweeps-dance-prizes/

 

 

[Neverdancedjustamum]

5 hours ago, Ondine said:

The ballet world is certainly crazy. There are so many routes to success, but it appears a place at White Lodge guarantees nothing beyond that.

 

I'll just leave this here.  Many are called and VERY few are chosen for this school.

 

https://www.monaco-tribune.com/en/2020/10/video-behind-the-scenes-at-one-of-the-worlds-most-exclusive-dance-academies/

 

BTW  US dancer Darrion Sellman,  Prix De Lausanne 'apprentice' 2022-3 with the Royal Ballet and now off with a contract to the Royal Swedish Ballet, can be added to the list of winners.

 

https://www.hellomonaco.com/news/latest-news/unprecedented-multiple-winner-princess-grace-academy-sweeps-dance-prizes/

 

 

Thank you for the links @Ondine! Very interesting indeed. I chanced upon the first article previously and couldn’t find it again when I wanted to show my DD so thank you for linking it above. Incidentally that’s one school that British trained dancers seem to find hard to crack at least in my recent memory. I could be wrong but I can only think of one British-trained female dancer who was offered a full time place and subsequently trained there (as far as I can remember). Many British-trained dancers are offered places to the intensives (which I believe also serve as an audition for those above a certain age), including those who attend various vocational schools here in the U.K., but none appear to have been offered full time places or attend full time.  That school always stream their end of year performance online (for a small fee via the Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo website) so the public from all over the world can watch their students, a transparency I find very refreshing and seems like clear evidence that they are very proud of their students. As they should be as whenever I watch them, their artistry and musicality amongst other things seem to be on a whole different level. 

[Pas de Quatre]

The original school was founded by Marika Bessobrasava a Russian dancer. At first it was in her own name and later became the Princess Grace Academy.  For over 50 years it has been one of the foremost ballet schools, and as has been said previously extremely hard to get into. When I worked in France, one of my friends was Japanese and had trained there, and the AD of our company was a great friend and admirer of Marika.

 

I fear the ballet training in UK simply does not have enough hours. My nephew is a promising young adult swimmer (competes at a National level) and the hours he has put in are phenomenal. Poolside 6 am 3 weekdays before school. After school some evenings too, with dry land and pool training at weekends. Likewise, gymnastics training involves many more hours than ballet/dance.

[Ondine]

24 minutes ago, Pas de Quatre said:

I fear the ballet training in UK simply does not have enough hours

 

Yes I've known young swimmers too, also young tennis players, and yes, the work and hours they put in and the dedication is phenomenal.

 

Getting to White Lodge itself has many interesting routes. Darcey Bussell was a late starter at WL,  she said herself she was way behind the others and had to work extremely hard to catch up. She came from Arts Ed!  I wonder if she'd even be accepted for WL these days?

 

https://www.balletnews.co.uk/from-student-to-star-viola-pantuso-the-royal-ballet/  Viola was home schooled and some might even say hothoused,  she was another 'late starter' at WL.  She's made it all the way through and I'm sure will rise rapidly at the RB.

 

[Neverdancedjustamum]

I remember seeing Viola on Ellison Ballet

photos and her style still very much reminds me of the training there.   I then saw a World Ballet Day video on YouTube around 5 years ago of then WL year 11s, which, if according to the article above Viola joined WL in 2017, means she would only have attended WL for a year maximum before going on to the Upper School. On that WBD video she was already a standout and very noticeable. If she started in the autumn of that year, she would only have been at WL for a month or two at the time the video was taken. When you search YouTube for that video, it’s actually a still of her that comes up in the results. 

[Ondine]

5 hours ago, Neverdancedjustamum said:

Viola joined WL in 2017

 Yes and an 'interesting' route in I have to say!

 

In 2017, while training in New York City, I attended the Youth America Grand Prix and was awarded the silver medal in the finals which was held at The Lincoln Center. It was an exciting event, and no doubt played a role in helping me get where I am today.

 

As a result of that experience, I was awarded a scholarship to the English National Ballet School. While in London, I was introduced to the Royal Ballet School which led to my enrolment and eventual graduation. All leading up to a contract with The Royal Ballet Company.

 

Another young US dancer whose progress it's possibly worth following, it's a long way to come to London for a short 'intensive' when there are many nearer no doubt. I see she's already been offered places to train in the US.

 

It appears she's 'putting the hours in' and also has what is described as a 'coach', not a teacher. YAGP next? It's a route many seem to be taking, with success bringing scholarships.