English Youth Ballet - Cinderella In Hollywood

English Youth Ballet returns to Darlington in cinematic style to present their latest production of Cinderella In Hollywood. The production will showcase the exciting talents of 100 young dancers from the North East and will feature international principal dancers in the leading roles.

Set in the glamorous era of 1950s Hollywood movies, this lavish production draws its inspiration from the film star Grace Kelly who met Prince Rainier of Monaco at a press party and later married him. Cinderella is a seamstress on a film set and the Fairy Godmother is her late mother - a former movie star of the 1930s. Her wicked sisters are Hollywood starlets competing with each other for starring film roles. The Prince meets Cinderella at the press party but at midnight she flees from the scene leaving a sparkly silver pointe-shoe as the only clue to her identity.

The choreography has been created by Director Miss Janet Lewis and her team of international principal artists who coach the young dancers. The music combines Shostakovich Jazz Suites and Ballet Suites with memorable melodies from Hollywood films such as Tea for Two, Chinatown and Dancing in the Dark. The stunning new stage designs for the ballet are by Sebastian Petit and the costume designs are by Keith Bish.

The professional principal dancers have joined EYB from some of the world's most renowned ballet companies - including the Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, Northern Ballet Theatre, La Scala and Ballet de Toulouse. British principal dancers include Phillip Tunstall, Julianne Rice-Oxley, Steven Wheeler & Oliver Speers. Monica Tapiador Moreno-cid is a Spanish principal dancer, Brenden Bratulic is from Australia, Clare Corruble is from France and Samantha Camejo is from Brazil.

English Youth Ballet (EYB) was founded in 1998 to provide professional performance experience for talented young dancers. It previously won The Stage Award - for special achievement in regional theatre. EYB has built a national reputation for the quality of both its full length classical ballets and mixed bill programmes. The opportunity to watch English Youth Ballet (EYB) is a unique experience. Sell-out audiences are treated to beautiful international principal artists sharing the stage with the top up-and-coming young talent from the local area. EYB's large cast ensures their ballets are performed with the scale and grandeur which was originally intended. The company is made up of 8 professional principals and 100 selected dancers (aged 8 - 18) from the local area. The young dancers are some of the top talents from the local area. There are now ex-EYB young performers in some of the world's best companies - including the Royal Ballet.