Congratulations to Spaldwick ballet dancer Molly Hall, who takes her prestigious place at the English National Ballet School tomorrow.
Molly, 16, from Church Lane is one of only 13 girls who will be entering the school this year. Competition for places is extremely intense, with 10 dancers applying for each coveted place.
The English National Ballet School is a specialist dance centre, offering a two-year training programme followed by a third year pre-professional programme for aspiring dancers. While at the school, Molly will be training six days a week including lessons in character, pas de deux and the history of dance. Molly said, “I’m looking forward to learning the technique and meeting the teachers, as well as learning variations of various different types of ballet”.
At the young age of 16, she is moving to London and has already arranged accommodation. Talking about this brave step, Molly said, “I am excited but nervous at the same time, because I have to be more independent”.
The Spaldwick dancer’s journey began when she was six years old and began attending ballet classes in Brampton. She began seriously considering ballet as a profession when she was 11, and transferred to the Elmhurst School of Dance when she was 13. Prior to transferring to Elmhurst, Molly competed in the Ceccheti Children’s Awards and the Mabel Ryan Awards. In 2011, she was highly commended in the Junior Award and a runner up in the Junior Vacani Award. In 2012, Molly went up to win the Middle Award.
Ballet is an all-consuming activity. On average, Molly spends six hours each day practicing. While at Elmhurst, the best parts were “the annual summer shows at the end of the year where the whole school comes together to put on a show and also the Year 11 showcase”.
When asked about her passion for ballet, Molly said, “I love the feeling of being on stage and playing a character. I’ve always loved watching it at the theatre and thought how amazing it would be being one of the dancers on stage!” She went on to talk about how ballet “was an amazing form of art” and, although it was hard work, it was all worth it to perform on stage.
In the future, Molly hopes to join a professional ballet company and eventually take on principal roles. She aspires to join either the Birmingham Royal Ballet, English National Ballet or the Royal Ballet.
We wish you the very best of luck Molly and look forward to charting your progress!