Narre Warren ballet dancer Madeleine KingstonYates is off to Europe to study dance after being accepted into five international ballet schools.By Rebecca Fraser
NARRE Warren ballet dancer Madeleine KingstonYates has a tough decision on her hands.
The talented 16yearold has been accepted into five European ballet schools, and must choose just one by next month.
The former Cranbourne Christian College student recently returned from a twoweek whirlwind trip of Europe, on which she auditioned for numerous ballet schools.
Accompanied by her mother Leonie KingstonYates and a group of other talented dancers, the gifted youngster was accepted into schools in Mannheim and Dresden in Germany, Zurich in Switzerland, Vienna in Austria and Den Haag in the Netherlands.
On Sunday Madeleine left for Sydney, where she will study classical dance six days a week at the acclaimed Tanya Pearson Ballet School. She will then travel to New York to spend two terms at the Ajkun Ballet Company after receiving a partial scholarship, before heading to Europe in September.
Madeleine, who turns 17 next week, said the decision about her schooling would not be an easy one and would involve a lot of thought and consideration.
“It will be a very hard decision to make,” she said. “All the schools are so good and I did not expect to get accepted into so many.
“It was such a shock but I am so happy.”
Leonie said the trip had been a bit of an emotional roller coaster as the young dancers found out whether they had been accepted straight after the audition.
“Some girls would get in and others would not. It was pretty emotional,” she said.
Madeleine said her ultimate dream was to travel the world as a dancer.
“I will study there (Europe) for 18 months to two years and then I hope to audition with some ballet companies over there,” she said. “I would love to travel through Europe dancing.”
Madeleine said all auditions involved bar and centre work and dancers were then asked to perform pointe work and give a solo performance if they reached the next stage.
The VCE student said she was not sure if she would be able to continue her academic studies in conjunction with her gruelling dance schedule.
“It might be a bit tough, but I will try and see what happens,” she said.
