Dancer Elena set to perform on national ballet tour

Elena will be joining the company on a five-week, 11-venue tour across England, starting on June 17 in Hornchurch in Essex.

Elena, aged 18, attended Spen Valley High School in Liversedge and trained at the Emma Coombs Dance Academy in Heckmondwike, and took associate programme classes at Yorkshire Ballet Scholars in York, before professional training.

She is now in the final year of a three-year BA (Hons) professional dance and performance degree at Central School of Ballet in London.

She said: “Dancers live to perform, and I am really looking forward to being back on stage performing in front of a live audience after such a long period of theatre closures.”

Elena and her fellow student dancers have spent much of the last year training and studying online while at home due to the Covid pandemic.

She said: “The past year has been challenging, especially adapting to training in different environments, but it provided the time to focus on my technique and this allowed me to continue to improve as a dancer, building strength and resilience all the time.”