Dancing dream for talented Antonia
Strath teenager benefiting from top schools
A talented dancer from the Strath has been earmarked as an outstanding student at a UK ballet school.
Antonia Cramb, a pupil at Crieff High School and of the part- time school at Edinburgh Festival Ballet ( EFB), is looking to embark on full-time ballet training next year and has ambitions of being cast in principal roles by a prestigious ballet company and touring the globe showcasing her talent.
The 15 year- old former St Dominic’s RC Primary School pupil, and student of the Trisha Meenaghan-Wackrow School of Ballet in Crieff, was accepted onto the part-time course at EFB, which was established by world-famous ballet dancer, choreographer, director and Olivier award-winner Peter Schaufuss, founder of The English National Ballet School.
Antonia also won the Sir Frederick Ashton award through Edinburgh Festival Ballet and was given a scholarship to Sarasota Ballet School.
And she recently won a full expenses-paid scholarship to the Yorkshire Ballet School for their summer intensive.
The dedicated dancer also successfully gained a place in London for weekly classes with the Royal Ballet School’s senior associates but, due to the pandemic, has had to do classes online.
In addition. she is a senior associate with Scottish Ballet and attends weekly classes for this too, on top of her usual classes with Trisha Meenaghan-Wackrow and EFB.
Prior to Covid, Antonia was lucky enough to dance at the Royal Opera House through Dance Forward – where she was taught by Dame Darcey Bussell.
The busy teenager has her sights firmly set on a career on stage as a classical ballet dancer.
“One of my dream roles is to perform in Swan Lake,” said Antonia
“In 10 years’ time, I’d love to be a principal dancer in a prestigious ballet company, travelling the world.
“I love the atmosphere at Edinburgh Festival
Ballet. All ballet is competitive and trains at such a high standard, but everyone here is so supportive.
“The school is a brilliant stepping stone to what I want to do as a career.
“Stepping onto the stage and taking on a role outside your own life – the escapism is great
“In training, I’m doing what I love and every day and really loving it. I really enjoy working towards achieving perfection in my technique and performance.”
EFB school principal Johan Christensen said: “Antonia is a great example of what can be achieved by students of our part-time school.
“Both sections of the school – part-time and full-time – present opportunities for aspiring dancers to learn from those that have been at the highest level of the dance profession.”
In 10 years’ time, I’d love to be a principal dancer in a prestigious ballet company ... Antonia Cramb
Liz Kemp is the latest artist to be featured in a solo exhibition at Comrie’s Goldfinch Gallery.
The Comrie Contemporary Arts Collective showcases the work of both established and emerging local artists and makers working in a diverse range of media, with regularly- changing exhibitions providing an inspiring and fascinating insight into the creative talents that thrive in the vibrant rural community.
The Drummond Street venue has taken its exhibitions online during lockdown, and Liz’s work can be viewed until April 16.
Taking inspiration from reclaimed materials, Liz explores their previous application or meaning in a prior context and brings them into new and thought-provoking settings.
In addition to studio work, Liz has taught art all over the world – specialising in community artwork and murals in India and Africa.
Her current collection of paintings is part of an ongoing series of work that will be presented in the Carpe Diem Gallery in India in 2022, alongside three contemporary artists from Goa.
The collage-based work is a response to the enormous and continuing shock of the Covid pandemic.
Founder of the Goldfinch Gallery, Vicky Cottrell, said: “Liz is delighted to be previewing the work in the Goldfinch Gallery.
“Her paintings ‘At the Beginning of a New World’ are a visual interpretation of the disruption that the pandemic
has brought to the apparent certainties of life before 2020 and the dawning understanding of impending menace arising from a neglected and misunderstood relationship between nature and humans.
“The serenity of the human figures in the paintings is about to be fundamentally altered by forces previously unseen or ignored, and the unknown outcome of this impact is emphasised by saturated colour, the
application of overlay and the blurring of outlines..
“The black canvases allow for parts of the painting to flow over the edges, giving a sculptural form to the work and implying that the images have no solid boundaries – a reflection on the effects of the worldwide crisis that initiated the series of paintings.”
You can find out more about Liz and her work, and view the exhibition, at www.goldfinchgallery.co.uk