ICKENHAM dancer Jasmine Whitford is one of the future stars currently on a UK Tour with Ballet Central, which will be heading to London in July.
Aimed at inspiring new audiences, the tour is a seen as the perfect introduction to ballet.
The company is made up of 32 young dancers, who are the 2023 graduating class of the Central School of Ballet, based in Southwark.
Jasmine attended Breakspear Primary School in Bushey Road, Ickenham, before auditioning for the Royal Ballet Lower School.
She was accepted and went to White Lodge, the Royal Ballet School in Richmond Park for five years before joining the Central School of Ballet.
Jasmine’s early experience was with Suzanne’s School of Dance in Ickenham, from the age of two till 10.
Her first ever performance was at the Beck Theatre in Hayes for the annual Suzanne’s school show - at the age of four!
Since then, she has performed many times at the Beck, as well as at festivals in Hillingdon, Ealing and Hounslow. Her family still live in the area.
Ballet Central graduates go on to dance companies, including English National Ballet, Northern Ballet, Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures and Rambert Dance Company.
This year’s tour combines classical works from Sir Frederick Ashton and Michael Pink with contemporary repertoire from Sophie Laplane and two new commissions by Morgann Runacre-Temple and Darshan Singh Bhuller.
Each piece has been specially chosen to celebrate the 40th birthday of the ballet school.
The tour comes to the Britten Theatre, London on July 12-13.
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