Success stories   Briana Shepherd Hits the Big Apple After only 8 months of studying with the School of American Ballet, Briana was offered an apprentice contract with New York City Ballet. Taking up the contract in February 2006 her first venture is with the 6th instalment of the Diamond Project Festival which was first presented in 1992. Briana is performing at the State Theatre for its two months season. She says, "I've never worked so hard - from 10 am to 10 pm and I love it." Well done Bree. Photo by Francis Andritch Working hard in the Studio in North Perth - Photo Andrew Tindell Taking a Break - Photo Jody D'Arcy On top of the World - Photo Jody D'Arcy   Scholarships offered in 12 Schools across Europe 16 year old Jessica Burness is a talented and dedicated student of classical ballet. She studies dance full-time, 8 hours a day, as a Junior Professional student of the Terri Charlesworth Ballet Centre and has been performing with Youth Ballet WA Inc, Australia’s unique ballet company for young people, for the past 3 years. In January 2007 Jessica embarked on a round the world trip auditioning for a places at some of the most prestigious ballet institutions. Jess financed this trip herself with her hard work paying off when she was accepted into all 11 training institutions across the world. Jess was also selected to do the Prix De Lausanne in Switzerland, the world’s top youth dance competition. She was one of only 48 students chosen from across the world to take part. Jessica’s desired place of study and future employment is the School of American Ballet, where she has been pre-accepted into their annual Summer School. She would like to follow in the footsteps of former Youth Ballet WA Inc dancer and Terri Charlesworth Ballet Centre pupil Brianna Shepherd. Brianna also completed her training at the School of American Ballet and is now dancing with the New York City Ballet. The school, however, unfortunately does not give scholarships and Jess is currently looking at ways she can try to finance her aspirations. Jess’s last performances before she heads to New York will be with Youth Ballet WA Inc’s Don Quixote as part of the City of Perth Winter Arts Festival. She will dance along side guest artists Natalia and Yuri Vyskubenko of the St Petersburg Ballet in this colorful classical ballet of chivalry, romance and comic adventure. Come and see her on stage at the Burswood Theatre for six shows only between August 22 and 25 2007!   Ellyce Danielle Ellyce Danielle has received a 2006 Australian Vocational Student Prize of $2000. This prize recognises the achievements of exceptional year 12 students undertaking Australian School based Vocational Training in schools programme as part of their secondary certificate. The prize is an indication of both Ellyses dedication as well as Terri Charlesworth Ballet Centre's support and committment in providing senior students with valuable skills and opportunities. Ellyce is an extremly talented young ballet dancer who is also excelling in her academic studies. She is performing in this years Nutcracker at the Playhouse Theatre and is then taking part in the centres annual world tour of auditions for international ballet schools. Congratualtions Ellyce on your success!!   Monique Douglas Monique Douglas, a former student, graduated from Arts Management at the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts and Edith Cowen University. As well as being offered to complete her Honours in Arts Management, Monique was offered a position as Touring Co-ordinator and Administration Assistant at the Australian Dance Theatre. She has been working with them until recently when she was asked to come back as the Marketing and Events Manager at Youth Ballet WA and Terri Charlesworth Ballet Centre. We are so happy to have her back and she is happy to be back! Monique commenced her dance training at Swanbourne Senior High school under the direction of Terri Charlesworth. Graduating with Honours in 1997, Monique was awarded a scholarship to continue her studies at Heinz Bosl Stiftung Ballet Schule in Munich where she graduated with an Advanced Diploma in Dance & Ballet Studies. She then went on to dance professionally with the Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich, the Queensland Ballet company and the Tasmanian Classical Ballet Company. Always wanting to pursue an academic career after finishing dancing, and having studied throughout her dancing career, Monique was accepted in Arts Management in 2004. It is great to see that training in ballet and dance, as well as maintaing academic goals, students can go on to great careers even after they decide to stop dancing.   Ilila Chown Ilila Chown, 17, and Cass Motimer Eiffer, 21, are two up and coming West Australian ballet stars joining together to delight audiences in Youth Ballet WA Inc.’s production of The Nutcracker. This production is at the Playhouse Theatre on the 19th and 20th of December. Ilila is excited at the chance she has been given to work with professional artist Cass Motimer Eiffer courtesy of the West Australian Ballet and can hardly wait to join the other very gifted students of Youth Ballet WA Inc to give Perth audiences another opportunity to see this extremely talented young company in action. Ilila, a student of the Terri Charlesworth Ballet Centre’s Junior Professional Course, has had an incredible year. She is looking forward to finishing it off with performances of a lifetime as the Sugarplum Fairy in the Beautiful Christmas Ballet ‘The Nutcracker’ being partnered by Cass as her Prince. The Nutcracker was performed at the Playhouse Theatre on Tuesday 19th and Wednesday the 20th of December at 2pm and 6:30 pm both days. All shows were sold out! In March Ilila was one of four West Australians selected to perform in the Dance Section of the Education Department’s Arts in Perspective Awards. There she dazzled audiences with her solo performance of Giselle. These awards run in conjunction with Celebrate WA and highlight the excellence of former year 12 students in Music, Dance and Drama. The evening was held at His Majesty’s Theatre earlier in the year. Next came her invitation to be coached by the legendary Irina Baronova (Star of the Ballet Russes) who was brought to Western Australia by historian David Hough and Friends of the WA Ballet. Soon after she danced with Russian stars Yuri and Natalie of the Bolshoi Ballet. They all danced in Youth Ballet WA Inc.’s production of Swan Lake. Following this, Illi travelled to Melbourne where she took classes with the Australian Ballet Company. With all her performances, over 40, Ilila still managed to fit in her 35 hours per week practical study of Certificate III in Ballet Performance, offered in the elite program of the Terri Charlesworth Ballet Centre.   Monte Carlo This week, three students from a burgeoning ballet empire in North Perth are heading to one of the most prestigious Ballet schools in the world, The Princess Grace Academy of Dance. Ellyce Danielle (17), Joseph White (18) and Olivia Woods (19) will complete their final year of ballet training at the famous academy, before being ready to audition for companies across the globe. Ellyce and Joseph both received full scholarships (including fees and board), after impressing Artistic Director Marika Besobrasova while on the World Tour that Terri Charlesworth Ballet Centre takes their top students on annually. Each tour comprises all the main ballet centers – New York, London, Paris, Manheim, Stuttgart, Munich, Zurich and Monte Carlo. Students audition for places in the school for the beginning of the next (European) academic year. Ellyce Daniele studied her TEE last year while also training for approximately 36 hours a week, receiving 96% as her total mark and coming in the top 5 percent of the states school leavers. Ellyce is a prime example of how both academic interests and passion can go hand in hand. “ Because I had limited time I had to put all my effort into it, I guess I’m a perfectionist. Dance is what I want to do, it’s what I love. I think I’d go insane if I didn’t dance.” Although her mum has made sure that Ellyce has enrolled in a science degree in UWA as backup, Ellyce is happy to explore her options in Monte Carlo first. The Terri Charlesworth Ballet Centre’s Junior Professional Course is the only Registered Training Organisation in Perth that provides Certificate III and IV in Ballet Performance and accommodates students from year 8 to year 12, who combine TEE studies with full time dance and theory studies. There are 110 students in this program. The students leave on Sunday to begin their adventures and training. Ellyce Daniele in Don Quixote   Inaugural “Dare To Dream” Scholarship Terri Charlesworth Ballet Centre Dancer Awarded $12 000 Talented dancer, 14 – year old Liam Blair has danced his way into the heart of a private sponsor who wants to help him achieve his dreams of dancing on the world stage. After seeing Youth Ballet WA Inc’s production of Don Quixote, a private sponsor has come forward to support local Perth talent. The sponsor personally chose Liam as he displayed remarkable technique and artistry for someone so young. The scholarship, currently to the value of $12 000, is to go towards Liam’s tuition in Perth at the Terri Charlesworth Ballet Centre. Liam will also use these funds for a trip to New York in 2008, where he will spend five weeks dancing at the School of American Ballet Summer School. Liam is certainly a well deserving candidate. In January 2007 Liam spent six weeks on a round the world trip, visiting the worlds most prestigious ballet schools. Director Sonya Shepherd who accompanied Liam and nine other students said he made a bold impact on all of the 11 schools visited. Liam studies full time in the Junior Professional Course at the Terri Charlesworth Ballet Centre (TCBC). Liam is fortunate that he can complete both his academic and ballet studies full time at the centre. TCBC is a Registered Training Organisation and Liam is able to complete Certificate III and IV in Ballet performance. All Junior Professional students perform as members of Youth Ballet WA Inc (YBWA) – Perth’s largest performing company. YBWA Inc is a non – for – profit, internationally recognized for innovation and excellence in the artistic and technical development of gifted young dancers. The relationship with this private sponsor is set to develop over the next few years with sponsorship both of individual dancers needing assistance and for Youth Ballet WA Inc. It is difficult to generate funds for the arts without the support of such companies and the driving force of the individuals; the development of such artists would certainly be hindered. The private sponsor, who would like to remain anonymous, had this to say about the scholarship recipient Liam Blair. “I found Liam’s performance compelling and inspiring. This performance was the catalyst for the Dare to Dream Scholarship. On further investigation it became clear that not only was he exceptionally talented, he was also very dedicated, displayed a strong sense of self, had firm goals and radiated an undeniable enthusiasm and passion for his dance and life is general. Liam is an extremely modest and unassuming young man, with a truly remarkable gift. He is a credit to his wonderfully loving and supportive family who work tirelessly to help him realise his dream. Liam brings to life the quote “you are only as big as the dreams you dare to live”. I have no doubt he will thrill and inspire many people as his journey continues and feel very privileged and excited to have been able to assist him in this very small way. Put simply he is a star in the making. It is amazing to see not only the depth and quality of the talent that is being developed and nurtured by the professional and dedicated team at Terri Charlesworth Ballet Centre, but also the outstanding local, national and international opportunities they provide for their students”.     For more information, please contact us