Young Shropshire dancer taking lead role in premier of new ballet
A young Shropshire dancer will take to the stage in the capital next month to play the part of Anna of Green Gables in the London Children's Ballet.
Annalise Wainright-Jones. aged 13 and from Ludlow, is no stranger to the stage. She was just two years old when she took part in a gala and was lifted into the air during the production.
By the age of seven she was involved in the All England Dance Festival and went on to win an arts scholarship at Tring Park School near Aylesbury.
She said her involvement in London's Children Ballet made her realise she truly wanted to be a dancer and loved the part in Anne of Green Gables.
"I feel there is a little bit of Anne in me so I can relate to her," she said.
The production will be on stage at the Sadler's Wells in Holborn Peacock Theatre between May 26-29. The new ballet is based on the classic novel.
Annalise's mother Marissa said all the family had been involved in dance or theatre.
"I was an actress until I had the children and was in Gypsy with Sheila Hancock," she said.
She said Annalise's sister, Georgianna, was studying musical theatre in London, but her brothers, although on stage as children, were now more involved in history and the classics.
The 12-year-old has a busy time ahead of her.
Just a couple of weeks after Anne of Green Gables she hope to fly out to the World Ballet Competition in Orlando, Florida.
