Exeter College Students Selected for Prestigious Dance Roles

Ella Roberts and Jess Tarrant were selected from thousands that auditioned to be two out of six young dancers chosen from across the Southwest, they joined the young cast in production from 4-8 June 2019 at the Theatre Royal, Plymouth.

Both Ella and Jess are currently studying full-time vocational dance courses at Exeter College and both are progressing to further dance training at renowned dance conservatoires. Ella is also managing this production, alongside her commitments to the National Youth Dance Company and attending Swindon Dance Centre for Advanced Training.

The search began in April 2018 with a call-out for the next generation of young dancers currently in training aged between 16 and 19. Attracting over 1,000 applications and following a UK-wide audition tour, six Young Cast members at each venue will perform alongside the New Adventures company. This unique opportunity will nurture and develop young talent with a view to them embarking on a career in dance.

In addition, Exeter College dance student alumnus Sharol Mackenzie, who went on to study at the Rambert School, joins the main cast.

Exeter College Dance Lecturer, Emma Wyke said:

We were delighted that Ella and Jess took up the opportunity to audition for Matthew Bourne’s new production ‘Romeo and Juliet’, to become part of their Young Cast.

Both students demonstrate exceptional technical and performance skills, and thoroughly deserve this opportunity.”

As part of ‘New Adventures’ ambition to support the next generation of on-stage talent, and inspired by the success of Lord of the Flies in 2014, which combined professional dancers and young men with little or no dance experience, Romeo and Juliet, featured the finest emerging male and female dancers from around the UK.

We recently opened a ‘New York’ style glass fronted Dance Studio – creating an inspirational environment for dance and performance.