Talented Eliana celebrates gaining a place at the prestigious Royal Ballet School

An aspiring ballerina from Chadderton is celebrating after gaining one of only 12 places available at the world-renowned Royal Ballet School.

Eleven-year-old Eliana Tse has been offered a place to train in Year Seven at The Royal Ballet School, which is based at the historic White Lodge in Richmond Park, London.

The Royal Ballet School is widely regarded as one of the top training ballet schools in the world and has produced ballet stars such as Darcey Bussell, Wayne Sleep and Francesca Hayward.

To be offered a place, Eliana had to go through three tough audition rounds both in Manchester and London comprising full day auditions, ballet classes, physiotherapy assessments and interviews.

This year, there were over 1,400 applications for the Royal Ballet School's White Lodge and Upper School from across the world, with only 12 spaces available for girls in Year 7.

Eliana said: “I am very excited to go to the Royal Ballet School.

"When I’m older I would like to be a professional ballet dancer and the excellent training at the Royal Ballet School can help me to achieve this.”

Not only was Eliana offered a place at the Royal Ballet School, but she was also offered a full-time place at every school at which she auditioned.

She had to choose between place offers at the Royal Ballet School, Elmhurst Ballet School and Tring Park School for the Performing Arts.

Eliana started ballet at the Janet Lomas School of Dancing when she was seven years old.

Eliana’s natural talents for ballet were apparent to her teachers, even at this young age.

“From her first ballet classes, I could see that Eliana had a very special gift for ballet,” said her ballet teacher, Johanna Hadley.

“She has continued to work hard and dedicate herself.

"We couldn’t be more proud of what she has achieved.”

After just two years of ballet classes, Eliana auditioned for a place on the Royal Ballet School’s Junior Associate programme.

She was successful in her audition and trained in this specialist programme for three years in once-a-week classes with Royal Ballet School tutors, alongside her regular training with the Janet Lomas School of Dancing.

In 2022, Eliana was selected to attend the Royal Ballet School’s Summer Intensive.

At the end of the week-long residential course, she received the prize of a Direct Entry Award to this year’s Royal Ballet School Summer Intensive 2023.

Eliana’s mum, Janice, said: “To achieve what Eliana has at such a young age is just incredible and we are super proud of her.

"We would like to thank her dance teacher Miss Johanna of the Janet Lomas School of Dancing for the excellent teaching and has been so encouraging and supportive of her journey to get into the prestigious Royal Ballet School.”

The Janet Lomas School of Dancing is no stranger to talentspotting students for careers in dance, with many past students gaining places at top ballet schools and dancing professionally across the world.

Eliana will be treading in the footsteps of past students by going to the Royal Ballet School – the Royal Ballet School’s current Head Boy is a former student of the Janet Lomas School of Dancing.

The Janet Lomas School of Dancing, which is celebrating its 45th anniversary this year, was formerly based in Bury.

During lockdown, however, the school took its classes online, opening up boundaries by allowing dancers from across the world to train with them.

The school now focuses on online training, with children and adults joining classes from across 11 countries.

"At our school, we understand the high standard of training that children require to pursue their dream of a career in classical ballet. For people wanting to access our specialised training, they are no longer limited by location,” said the principal, Janet Lomas.

Eliana will begin in Year Seven at the Royal Ballet School in September and will train full time, specialising in classical ballet.

While at the school, she will continue her academic studies alongside her vocational ballet training.

She will also have many performance opportunities, including dancing alongside the Royal Ballet company on the stage of the Royal Opera House in London.

For more information about the locally-based school, please visit: www.janetlomasdance.co.uk

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