Dance trio skip off to bright lights

By Victoria Knowles

THREE of Suffolk's brightest dance stars are hot-footing it to London and Cambridge to take up places at top dance schools.

Abigail Glading is off to London after winning a place in a production by the London Children's Ballet.

Abigail, of Main Road, Woolverstone, will be in their production of Faithful Gelert, which is based on a Welsh folk story about a dog.

Ten-year-old Abigail will be playing a puppy, a fawn and a bridesmaid and her mum said she is really excited.

"I am so proud of her but I think I will be really nervous when I go to the opening night on May 16. She is really looking forward to it and this is something she has wanted to do all her life," she said.

Nicholas Jones, who currently goes to the Linda Shipman School of Dancing, in Ipswich, is also on his way to London – to the Royal Ballet School in September.

Nicholas has been dancing for five years and now all his dreams have come true.

"I want to be a professionally trained dancer when I grow up so this is fantastic for me. I am really excited about starting and just getting involved with all the dancing," said the 11-year-old, of Sutton Heath, near Woodbridge.

Dance teacher Linda Shipton said: "This is wonderful for Nicholas and it is a great achievement. We have a number of pupils who have gone on to join ballet schools in London and they have all done very well."

Fifteen-year-old Holly Webb, from Bury St Edmunds, is preparing to join the acclaimed Bodyworks Dance School in Cambridge after spending eight years at the Cara-Lea Dance School, which runs classes for the Stowmarket area, with tuition held at Haughley Village Hall.

Javalyn Redit, a helper at the dance school, was clearly impressed with Holly's dancing skills.

"She's the first to have got there from our dance school. She is an outstanding dancer and she has got first place in four out of five of the competitions we have had since October," she said.