THE English Youth Ballet (EYB) is heading to the region to hold auditions for roles in a new production of Cinderella in Hollywood.

At the audition – to be held in the Hippodrome Theatre in Darlington on Sunday, December 1 – 100 young male and female dancers aged eight to 18 from across the region will be offered the chance to rehearse with and then dance alongside international professional principal dancers in the production.

Set in the glamorous era of 1950s Hollywood, there will be three performances of the show at The Hawth Theatre in Crawley, West Sussex on April 17 and 18, 2020.

Now in its 20th year, EYB is a national touring ballet company with director Janet Lewis MBE at its helm.

Miss Lewis enjoyed an illustrious dancing career with the Royal Ballet Company and London Festival Ballet dancing alongside such greats as Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev. The company consists of a core team of eigh international principal dancers, two artistic ballet staff, two wardrobe mistresses and four theatre technicians.

The principal dancers have danced in some of the world’s greatest companies including English National Ballet, La Scala and the Royal Ballet. EYB is highly regarded for presenting lavish, large-scale classical ballets and critics have praised the quality of the beautiful sets and costumes.

Miss Lewis said: “The EYB audition is an experience in itself. EYB is all about performance experience and this starts at the audition as the dancers are given a regular ballet class on the stage.

“Parents and family are encouraged to watch from the audience. We are looking for young dancers of all abilities who can show the audience how much they enjoy their dancing.”

The policy of EYB is to give professional performance experience to young dancers in beautiful venues close to where they live.

The young dancers benefit from being coached and mentored by the professional dancers in an 11-day rehearsal period which takes place out of school hours.

Dancers will find out on the day if they are successful. It is advisable to register for the audition in advance but it is possible to register on the day (arrive 30 minutes early to register). The audition fee is £18 and all dancers participate in a full ballet class. parents are invited to watch the audition.

The Hippodrome auditions will be held from 1pm to 2.30pm for dancers aged eight to 11 and 3pm to 4.30pm for dancers aged 12 to 18.

To register for the audition, contact EYB on 01689-856747 or by email on info@englishyouthballet.co.uk. For more information visit www.englishyouthballet.co.uk.