A YOUNG girl has paired dreams with dedication to secure a scholarship for the Royal Ballet School in Richmond.

Gracie Giles, 11, is one of only a dozen girls to gain a place this year at the prestigious school, known the world over as a centre of classical ballet training and whose alumni include Margot Fonteyn and Darcey Bussell.

The last six months has involved a strenuous series of auditions, interviews and tests for Gracie, at the end of which she had offers of places from all three of the UK’s top establishments: The Royal Ballet School, the Elmhurst Ballet School (connected to Birmingham Royal Ballet) and Tring Park for the Performing Arts in Hertfordshire.

Having made her decision, Gracie, who lives in Looe, is now looking forward to starting at The Royal Ballet’s White Lodge, where she will board during the week from September.

But the surroundings of her new school are already familiar to the young dancer, as she has twice taken part in summer schools in Richmond: during the first of these, Gracie was given a direct access award for the following year by artistic director Christopher Powney.

For a youngster of just 11, Gracie has an impressive CV, and a work ethic to match; she does around 20 hours of training each week outside of school.

Through the Ballare School of Performing Arts in Saltash, where she has been dancing since she was three years old, Gracie gained junior associate places with both the Royal Ballet and Elmhusrt Ballet Schools, and has trained once a week on a Saturday and a Sunday in Totnes and Plymouth respectively for the past three years.

She gained a scholarship place with the English Youth Ballet in 2019, and performed the famous Cygnet Dance at the New Theatre in Cardiff last summer. This year, she’ll perform with the Birmingham Royal Ballet at the Theatre Royal in Plymouth.

Gracie has won many awards for her dancing, most recently as a finalist at the International Imperial Ballet Awards held in London.

In addition to her dancing, Gracie has been involved in many professional theatre and TV productions: she recently landed the role of Emma in ITV’s ‘The Trouble with Maggie Cole’ alongside Dawn French. This opportunity came thanks to being a part of the Plymkids Theatre Company.

‘Whilst enjoying all of these wonderful opportunities, Gracie still attends Looe Primary Academy, where she enjoys everyday school life,’ said mum Leigh Giles.

‘Her teachers have been wonderfully supportive of her busy training schedule, and we are all over overwhelmed with the support she has received from friends, her school and the community.

‘Gracie will miss her family and friends a huge amount when she moves to London but is very excited about her new ballet journey.

‘As part of her first term she will have the honour of performing in the Nutcracker at the Royal Opera House over Christmas, every little girl’s dream.’