Young dancer heads south to follow in mother’s footsteps

Amelia Jackson from Tickton, near Beverley in East Yorkshire, who has been dancing since she was four years old, is training as a professional dancer at the Central School of Ballet (CSB) in London.

Amelia, 17, who won her place from among 400 applicants, has completed her first term at CSB, one of only 38 pupils accepted on the three-year degree course, a BA (Hons) in professional dance and performance.

Auditions for CSB are held each spring, with applicants performing before the school’s teaching staff, all of whom are former professional dancers.

Amelia attended the Royal Ballet School in London where she gained five GCSEs alongside her dance training.

Amelia’s mother was previously a dance teacher herself.

CSB director Sara Matthews said: “Students typically join us aged 16 after GCSE. By this stage many of them will have been dancing since primary school.

“Only the most talented and dedicated students are accepted but ballet is no longer an elitist profession.

“Around 25 per cent of CSB students are given some kind of financial assistance through the school to allow them to complete their tuition here.”

Graduates of the school have gone on to join some of the world’s premier dance and ballet companies.

Recent CSB students have gone onto The Royal Ballet, Scottish Ballet, National Ballet of Estonia, Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo among others.