Toe tapping success
4/2/12 SM Ballet dancer Lydia Mackett 11 of Gosport who got through auditions to this years London Childrens Ballet Company show in April. Picture: Paul Jacobs (120411-1)
LIGHT-footed Lydia Mackett is soon to tread the boards of London’s West End.
The 11-year-old, of Bittern Close, Gosport, will appear on stage with members of the London Children’s Ballet company, in its production of A Little Princess.
The show will take place in April at The Peacock Theatre, Sadler’s Wells, but getting the part was no mean ‘feet’.
More than 500 boys and girls aged between nine and 16 auditioned to take part but only 55 were chosen – seven in each age group.
Lydia is one of only seven 11-year-olds to be picked to work alongside the company’s professional dancers.
But her achievements are all the more remarkable given that she suffers from bilateral high frequency hearing loss and has to lip read to communicate.
She relies on feeling the vibrations of the music on the floor to keep her in time and follows the actions of others to ensure she has the right moves.
Lydia said: ‘I’m so excited that I got picked. It feels really special and it’s a great opportunity.
‘I love preforming on stage and dancing for people, so it’s nice to have the chance to do that in front of a big audience.
‘I want to be a famous dancer when I’m older and this feels like it’s taking me one step closer to that which is really nice.’
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Friday 25 May 2012
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