Zoe Snowball Yudowi, a Sixth Form pupil at St Leonards-Mayfield School in East Sussex, is celebrating after securing a hotly contested place with the world-famous English National Ballet Youth Company.
Zoe, who lives in Mayfield, has the honour of being one of only five students to be accepted this year into the exclusive Youth Company, which is made up of just fourteen students. She is excited about the classes she will be taking in London, dancing with professional dancers and being taught by world class contemporary and technical ballet teachers. In addition to her dancing, Zoe recently achieved 5 A*s and 5 As at GCSE at the all-girls Catholic independent school, is a talented ceramicist, keen horse rider and competes in the school’s athletics squad.
Zoe has also won a full scholarship to dance with the English Youth Ballet, and has been cast in the title role as the doll Coppelia, in their upcoming production, which means she will be dancing with professional dancers on stage.
Zoe’s mother, Jean Snowball, commented:
“We are immensely proud of Zoe’s achievements and her time management. Both her ballet school, Southborough School of Dance and her academic school, St Leonards-Mayfield, have been instrumental in helping Zoe achieve her goals.”
Antonia Beary, Headmistress at Mayfield, commented:
“We are very proud of Zoe and very much looking forward to seeing her performing in Coppelia. Zoe is an excellent example of how to balance academic and creative pursuits. I am also delighted that she is still able to find time to work with our junior girls preparing for the school dance show.”
The English Youth Ballet production of Coppelia is being performed on the 24th and 25th October at the Hawth Theatre in Crawley. Tickets are available from the box office at www.hawth.co.uk or 01293 553636.