Dancer Olivia Holland, whose parents Peter and Penny, now live in Keynsham says that touring to Theatre Royal Bath during her first year with Northern Ballet is "a dream come true".
Olivia joined Northern Ballet in Leeds in August after attending a summer course there.
She has now been on a tour with Beauty and the Beast which plays in Bath next week as the last date on the tour.
"I am really excited about coming to Bath and it has been a great tour with a really lovely ballet. It really is a dream come true for me," said Olivia.
Olivia, who has one older sister and who went to school in Saltford started ballet when she was just eight years old at the Dorothy Coleborn School of Dance in Bath.
She was a gymnast first at Baskervilles, where she took part in several competitions and won many medals, excelling at floor routines.
She soon took dance lessons and studied tap and jazz, as well as ballet. Her early performances included the Theatre Royal Bath pantomime as a member of the Dorothy Coleborn School of Dance.
As a child, she also performed in a musical theatre production of The King and I. " I can still remember dancing in it even though it was such a long time ago," she says.
Her ballet teacher in Bath was Karen Paisley, who was also a Royal Ballet junior associate teacher.
Karen studied at the Royal Ballet School herself, becoming a Principal dancer. Soon opportunities opened up for Olivia and when she was 11 she too gained a place at the Royal Ballet School. She trained at the Royal Ballet School for five years, maintaining her academic studies at the same time and also becoming head girl.
Olivia continued her training spending two years at Elmhurst School for Dance in Birmingham and moved a step closer to gaining a professional career in ballet.
Meanwhile, she kept up her academic studies, achieving three A-levels. At this time she took up opportunities to dance with Birmingham Royal Ballet, and performed with the National Youth Ballet, creating the lead role in Ballet Chocolat. During her graduate year, Olivia was offered a job early at the Royal Ballet of Flanders in Belgium, she joined as soon as she could and started her professional career touring to Paris, Venice and Luxembourg.
Olivia had always been very interested in Northern Ballet. She auditioned for the acclaimed dance company, which is based in Leeds, having previously attended their summer course and she was offered a job as an apprentice for the following season.
She has been working with Northern Ballet since August.
WIN TICKETS
We have two tickets to give away to watch the opening performance of Beauty and the Beast on Tuesday evening. Just answer the following question put your answer on a postcard and send it with your name and telephone number to Theatre Royal Competition, The Bath Chronicle, Westpoint, James Street West, Bath BA1 2DA. The first correct answer out of the hat on Monday morning will get the tickets. The question is: which company is performing Beauty and the Beast?
