FOUR Ealing youngsters have been chosen to join the English Youth Ballet in its next production of Giselle after a highly competitive audition.
The girls will be among 100 dancers aged eight to 18 who will perform in a new adaptation of the ballet at New Wimbledon Theatre next month.
Mathilde Cacaly, eight, and Joanna Mitchell, 10, both go to the Acton Ballet School in East Acton Lane, Acton.
Mia Carruthers, 12, and Poppy Hipwell, 13, go to the Joyce Butler School of Dance, Ridley Avenue, West Ealing.
The professional dancers who are taking take to the stage alongside the EYB will include David Kierce, principal dancer from Northern Ballet Theatre, who will partner Julianne Rice Oxley.
The story of Giselle is set on an English country estate with an 'upstairs, downstairs flavour' and is about a young girl who is betrayed by the unfaithful Prince Albert.
Bridget Hearne, who runs Acton Ballet School, said: "It is always a very daunting experience for young children to be placed in an audition situation for the first time as was the case for these children.
"They have to pick up new steps that they may never have learnt, grasp the complexity of enchaînements (movements) and keep going for an hour and three quarters.
"So I am delighted and very proud of all the children that got through and know that the continuing experience of rehearsals and performances with professional dancers will give them something to remember for life."
