A YOUNG dancer from Stoke Climsland is celebrating after beating thousands of other applicants to be accepted into an esteemed dance college in London, writes Sam Hughes and Tom Green.

Eighteen-year-old Charlotte Watts, who has just completed her A-Levels at Callington Community College, is preparing to head to the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) in Battersea in September to start her dream of a career in the dance industry.

RAD is one of the most influential dance education and professional membership organisations in the world, setting global standards for exams in classical ballet, teacher training and continuing professional development for dance.

Having been dancing since the age of two, Charlotte has given up a lot of her free time over the years to concentrate on her hobby, which she now hopes to turn into a career after completing the two-year Bachelor of Arts degree at RAD.

Charlotte is currently a member of the SJS Dance Academy, run by Suzanne Sanders in Tavistock and Stoke Climsland, and it was Suzanne who gave Charlotte the confidence to apply.

Charlotte said: ‘I am so, so excited to go. I’ve been dancing since I was two and I’ve always loved performing. I decided I wanted to teach dance at the age of 14 and since then, that is all I have wanted to do.’

Of the thousands of applicants RAD receives every year, only 30 are chosen to attend the college. Charlotte was chosen to attend an audition along with around 500 other people, where she had to do a written exam, a practical audition and a one-to-one interview.

‘I was so nervous on the day — there was a lot of pressure,’ she said. ‘I had to wait a week before they told me I had been accepted. I was quite surprised when they told me how many people had applied. I never thought I’d make it out of all those people. I am so pleased, it’s all I’ve ever wanted.’

Her mother Sue said she was very proud of Charlotte.

‘I’m over the moon for her, it’s her golden ticket. She gave up her weekends from the age of 14 working 9am to 4pm to either practise or teach on top of all her school work, including her GCSEs and A-Levels. She trained in an old parish hall, no modern things, no mirrors and the bar was held together with tape. It goes to show that anyone can do it, not just people that “know people” or that have state of the art facilities.

‘Suzanne gave Charlotte the confidence to apply to RAD, she’s been very helpful and is a brilliant teacher. Charlotte wants to teach dance, travel around Europe and open her own academy — just like Suzanne did.

‘Dancing is what she’s always wanted to do. She’s talented, committed, hard working and has had superb teaching from Suzanne and the teachers at Callington Community College.‘

Charlotte will be making the big step and leaving home to move to London to start at RAD in September.