FOUR young dance hopefuls from Penarth are to experience the life of a professional dancer after being selected from hundreds of others for three performances with the English Youth Ballet (EYB).

Fourteen-year-old’s Bethan Evans and Isobel Grafton, Cerys Salter, 15, and Naina Kant, 18, are currently training at The New Dance School, ahead of an appearance in a dramatic adaptation of Giselle at the New Theatre in Cardiff.

The four teenagers, pupils at both St Cyres and Stanwell, were selected ahead of more than 200 others and will dance alongside the EYB’s international principal artists from July 25. They are in rehearsals at Fitzalalan High School in a 10-day intensive rehearsal process.

British principal ballerina, Julianne Rice Oxley, said the selected dancers were some of the most exciting young talent in the area. “The young dancers we are working with in Cardiff have great energy and attack. Working in a professional environment gives the students a unique insight into life in a ballet company. They are so lucky – I wish there had been something like EYB when I was training," she said.

“ I feel very privileged to be a principal with the EYB as I get to work with some of the UK’s most talented young dancers. I find them incredibly inspiring.”