A BUDDING prima ballerina has taken her first step onto the big stage after securing a place at the Elmhurst Ballet School against hundreds of girls.
Ruby Clarke, a pupil at Coughton C of E Primary School, is just one of 18 students chosen to attend the world renowned Edgbaston ballet school and will start as a boarder in September this year.
Her delighted mum and dad, Emily and Paul Clarke said: “Whilst we will miss Ruby very much when she leaves home it is impossible to deny her this amazing opportunity when she has such a talent.
“We are all so very proud of her and will support her every step of the way.”
The youngster became hooked on ballet when she was just five years old, progressing to do weekend sessions at both Elmhurst and The Royal Ballet School.
She also receives specialist training with Annette Nicholson, a former Birmingham Royal Ballet senior soloist at Nicholson School of Dance in Digbeth.
“During the last two years Ruby has been chosen twice for The Royal Ballet School intensive training programmes in London and received an Achievement Award for her time there,” said Emily.
“She was also selected to perform with The Birmingham Royal Ballet in their production of The Nutcracker in December 2017.”
The talented Studley resident also applied to The Royal Ballet School, battling past hundreds of contenders to make their final ‘wait list’ before choosing nearby Elmhurst.
But it won’t all be about dance as pupils will have to do GCSEs too.
“It has been a dream of mine for so long to attend vocational ballet school,” said Ruby.
“I’m so excited to start at Elmhurst in September, it really is a dream come true.”
