Elmhurst Ballet School graduate Lydia Holt was born in Oxford, United Kingdom, where she began her ballet training at the age of 3 at her local ballet school.
Lydia then moved on to become a Junior Associate with the Royal Ballet School. Whilst a Junior Associate she was selected as the youngest dancer to perform George Balanchine’s Mozartiana with Birmingham Royal Ballet.
At 11 years old Lydia attended Tring Park School for the Performing Arts where she was selected to perform with the English National Ballet in Swan Lake at the Royal Albert Hall, as well as St Petersburg Ballet in Don Quixote in Paris.
After one year at Tring she was offered a scholarship to attend Elmhurst Ballet School in Association with Birmingham Royal Ballet where she continued her ballet training through to 19 years old.
While at Elmhurst Ballet School Lydia won:
- 2015 Elmhurst Ballet Solo Competition performing Dance Concertantes by Sir Kenneth Macmillan
- 2016 Musicality Award at the Cecchetti Classical Ballet Awards, Sadler’s Wells
- Semi-finalist at the 2015 Royal Academy of Dance Genee Competition
- Appointed Head Girl at Elmhurst Ballet School from 2015-16
- Olympic Torch Bearer at the start of the 2012 Olympic Games in London
Lydia’s ballet training has included tuition from the hugely talented Daria Klimentova, Victoria Marr and Shannon Parker and whilst at Elmhurst Ballet School Gloria Grigolata, Errol Pickford and Lei Zhao.
Over the past 4 years Lydia has attended the Prague Ballet Masterclasses, Royal Ballet Summer Schools at both White Lodge and Covent Garden in London, Art of Summer Intensive- William Forsythe in Madrid, Ballet Summer School Dresden in Germany as well as York Ballet Seminars in England.
In July 2017 Lydia performs in the premier of a new piece entitled Komic Kutz choreographed by the great David Bintley, Director of Birmingham Royal Ballet as well as a new piece by Stephen Delattre, Choreographer and Director of Delattre Dance Company.
Lydia leaves Elmhurst Ballet School in July 2017 with:
- Level 6 Diploma in Professional Dance from Trinity College London, Distinction in Cecchetti Advance 1
- Distinction in Royal Academy of Dance Advanced 2
- Plus 9 GCSE’s and 2 A’Levels.
Lydia plans to extend her training and starts the Professional Graduate Programme with Northern Ballet in August 2017, where she will prepare for life as a professional ballet dancer and study for a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Professional Practice.
Lydia’s real passion lies in neo-classical ballet and she dreams of one day being able to perform a William Forsythe piece professionally!
Follow Lydia on Instagram @lydiaholt