A VERY talented girl is putting on a dance show tomorrow to help pay for a place at a top performing arts school.

Eden Wrightson, 13, from Littlemoor, Weymouth, got one step closer to fulfilling her dreams of performing in the West End when she passed her audition to attend The Hammond School, a leading private performing arts school in Chester.

However, she has to pay £13,000 in fees if she wishes to attend the school for the first year and so Eden has started fundraising.

Since the age of eight she has been dancing with Quay Theatre Arts and she is also in its festival competition group, so she decided to ask her seven competition colleagues to take part in a fundraising dance show with her.

Dance Away is taking place at Upwey and Broadwey Memorial Hall in Upwey at 7pm tomorrow and will feature dances from an array of dancing genres.

It will also feature a group contemporary piece choreographed by Eden herself, based on the famous In Flanders Fields poem by John McCrae.

As well as Eden Wrightson, the show will star Eleanor Mitchell, Ellen Schofield, Verity McCartney-Parker, Kiara Simmonds, Lucy Manning and Lilli Kenway.

Eden’s mum Lisa Wrightson said that her daughter has been dancing since the age of two, has taken part in competitions across the country and has just got through to the All England Dance finals with her ballet.

Lisa was “very proud” of her daughter for getting into The Hammond School and she said that Eden was “ecstatic” when she first received the news.
She said: “She has worked very hard to get where she is without a doubt.”

She added that Eden is a “very disciplined” girl, as she dances every night of the week and often doesn’t come back home until 9pm.

Lisa also said that Eden has organised the Dance Away show herself, though she has had support from Quay Theatre Arts, which has helped her with publicising the event.

It is hoped that the performance tomorrow night might be able impress someone enough to sponsor Eden to provide some of the money towards her fees.

Lisa said: “She is a very fit and determined young person and we are hoping that somebody somewhere will see that and think: ‘Maybe I can do something to help.’”

Tickets for Dance Away are £5 and for information on how to book tickets, people can call 07720 708387 or 07745 173856.