The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
April to dance before global audience at edinburgh tattoo
Forfar: Teacher wins spot with dance company to perform in castle extravaganza
An Angus primary school teacher is learning all the right moves this summer, as she prepares to make a return visit to the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo stage.
April Hunter, 23, who first put on her dancing shoes 20 years ago, has successfully auditioned to perform with The Tattoo Dance Company in front of a worldwide audience.
She recently performed at Arbroath Rotary Club’s Variety Show in her home town and is now looking forward to rehearsing with the dance company in July.
She said: “I went to an audition in Edinburgh in February and found out I had been successful. I did the tattoo last year.
“There is quite an intensive week of rehearsals during the week prior to the show, rehearsing and practising for 12 hours a day.
“It will be a traditional dance but there will be new choreography so there is a lot of learning to do.”
April – who won the United Kingdom championship at Meadowbank Stadium in Edinburgh in 2006 – will join 50 other dancers from around the world for the major spectacle at Edinburgh Castle from August 3 to 25.
She will perform every night, apart from Sunday, with two shows on the Saturdays.
April has danced since the age of three. She competed at the world finals at the Cowal Gathering since the age of nine, until she went to university at the age of 18, and was taught by Linda Napier. She was runner-up in the Scottish national championships several times.
April, a primary two teacher at Strathmore Primary School in Forfar, is now setting her sights further afield and hoping to take part in international tattoos.
“I am planning to take a bit of a break from teaching to do more tattoos. There is one in Oslo, which I can’t do for work commitments, there is a Basel tattoo and a Chinese tattoo in 2020.”
Performers from more than 48 countries have taken part in the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, and around 30% of the 220,000 audience members each year are from overseas.
In addition to this, the tattoo has been televised in more than 40 countries. An annual television audience of 100 million watches the coverage worldwide.
jathomson@dcthomson.co.uk