Dancer bound for Sydney

A former ballet student from Karratha's Ovation Performance Company who now lives in Perth and studies full-time at the West Australian Conservatoire of Classical Ballet visited Karratha last week and took the chance to teach young ballet students.

Ethan Louis started ballet in Karratha at 17 and began his studies in Perth last year under the guidance of former WA Ballet Company dancer Beth James.

Ovation Performance Company principal ballet teacher Megan Wood-Hill said Louis had the potential to join a ballet company by the end of 2015 and take part in a prestigious competition in Sydney.

"Later this year Ethan is going to compete in the McDonald's ballet scholarship competition in Sydney," she said.

"Every country has a major ballet scholarship, and for Australia this is the one, so it's a massive achievement."

During his visit Louis worked with 12-year-old Sebastian and 10-year-old Nathaniel Crummer on special conditioning, strength, flexibility and allegro, which involves elevation and jumping exercises.

Nathaniel is part of a program run by the Australian Ballet School which works with gifted students.

He was identified as having the perfect natural body for ballet and will train in Perth every quarter and spend four days at the school in Melbourne as well as continuing to train in Karratha.

Mrs Wood-Hill said although it was impressive Nathaniel had been accepted into the program, it was only one of many ways for dancers to begin their careers.

"Ballet is much more open now to bodies of all shapes and sizes," she said.

To assist their students in training hard to get on those career paths, Ovation Performance Company is currently fundraising for a sprung floor, which would allow them to perform elevations and jumps without injuries.

Louis suffered from shin splints during his time in Karratha because of the current flooring there.

Despite this, other students have gone on to begin dance careers such as Kirra Doherty, who is currently studying at Terry Simpson Studios in Adelaide, and Hayley Bruce who is studying at Dynamic Performing Arts in Perth.