Young dancers from Wallasey chosen for English Youth Ballet performance

Jun 22 2011 by Lorna Hughes, Wallasey News

TWO budding ballerinas from Wallasey have been chosen to perform with one of the UK’s top dance companies.

Friends Esme Rivett and Olivia Hathaway, both ten, impressed judges from the English Youth Ballet (EYB) at an audition for a production of The Nutcracker in Shrewsbury next month.

The company performs classical ballets with professional principal dancers in regional theatres, giving young dancers outside London the chance to perform in a professional setting.

Olivia and Esme attend ballet lessons at Wallasey Ballet School and are taught by Deborah Clark.

Olivia’s mum Joanne said: “She’s very excited – she can’t wait to get back to rehearsals for the performance!

“She was nervous at the audition but they’ve both done very well to be chosen.

“She’s really dedicated to ballet and still gets excited about her lessons.”

Both Olivia and Esme have been dancing since the age of three and became friends after meeting at dance lessons.

Last year Esme made it through to the finals of the prestigious National Children’s Dance Award, where her dancing was praised by judge Wayne Sleep.

Her talents run in the family – Esme’s mum Sandra has a degree in dance and her younger sister Freya, seven, is also a keen dancer.

Sandra said: “Esme and Olivia are both passionate about ballet and they’re both very, very good.

“Esme will get home from ballet and she’ll just carry on dancing!

“I think she would like to do it professionally but we’ll see what happens.”

Esme and Olivia recently took part in an 11-day intensive rehearsal process to prepare them for their parts in The Nutcracker.

The ballet will be performed at Shrewsbury’s Theatre Severn on July 22 and 23.

English Youth Ballet Company Manager Ben Garner said: “Working with the English Youth Ballet will most probably be the highlight of these talented young dancer’s careers to date.

“The audiences watching are in for an exciting experience too. They will be seeing both top principal artists and the best young talent sharing the stage.”