Charity steps up to make ballet dream come true

A TEENAGER who is the first Scot to win a place at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow has secured the funding to fulfil her dream.

Hayley Stobo, 16, from Renfrew, is one of only a handful of British girls who have ever been picked to train at the academy in its 230-year history.

The teenager will fly to Moscow next month to begin her three-year course at the prestigious institution and has been learning Russian.

Tutors at the Bolshoi offered her a place after watching a ten-minute DVD of her performances which Hayley sent them.

She said: "I was absolutely ecstatic when I found out. I still don't think it's sunk in. I think when I'm on the plane that's when it will really hit me that I've started the next step in my training.

"I've always dreamed about becoming a ballet dancer from the age of two, when I was put into ballet class, and to be given a place in such a prestigious school is such an honour."

However, Hayley was not sure she would be able to take up her place because she did not have funding and the tuition fees alone cost around 13,000 a year.

Her mother wrote to hundreds of organisations asking for sponsorship, before the Genesis Foundation agreed to fund the teenager.

Hayley's time at the academy will be funded by the UK-based charity, which aims to nurture and develop emerging talents until they reach a point of sustainability.

She said: "I can't explain how grateful I am to them for enabling me to achieve my dream."

Hayley began to dance at the Elma White School of Dance in Paisley and then did two years of classes with Scottish Ballet. When she was 11, she was accepted to the Dance School of Scotland in Knightswood, Glasgow, where she trained for five years.

After her training in Moscow, Hayley could end up dancing anywhere in the world. She said: "Wherever companies are, I will be auditioning."