My Garston - Local News Magazine for Garston, Herts

GARSTON GIRL EARNS PLACE AT DANCE SCHOOL

An A-Level student from Garston has beaten off competition from around 900 other applicants to earn a place at one of London’s top Dance Academies. Nikki Carter, 18, of Meadow Road, has been accepted onto a pure dance course at Urdang Academy after impressing representatives of the school during her audition.

What makes her acceptance even more impressive is the fact she obtained one of 100 places, with 1000 applicants hoping for a place. The talented teenager, who is currently studying A-Levels in Geography, Sociology and Psychology at Marlborough School in St Albans, will now take her place at the prestigious academy in September. Nikki started dancing at the tender age of three when she took up ballet, and she still remembers the excitement she felt when starting out. She told My Garston News: “I remember getting my first uniform and just being really excited. For as long as my memory goes back I always remember wanting to dance.” Since then, Nikki has gone onto, in her words, “give pretty much everything a go,” including Tap, Irish and Gumboot dancing. She still performs at Centre Stage Dance School, based at Orbital Community Centre, while also performing singing and dance at the Pump House with Liberty Theatre Arts. After completing her GCSEs and going into sixth form, it was now time for Nikki to decide what her next career move would be. Despite some pressure to go down the academic route, the 18-year-old followed through her ambition to become a dancer by applying to the academies. “Dancing is what makes me happy and I don’t think success is based on how much money you make or how much of a big shot you are,” she said. Having performed at the Royal Opera House when she was 16, Nikki knew that this was the career path she wanted to take. She applied to Urdang and another school, filling out the necessary forms and completing a medical assessment before being offered an audition. Sadly for Nikki, she was turned down by Urdang after her audition for a course which would see her do dance, drama and musical theatre. However, when she phoned for feedback, Nikki was told that she would have been considered for the pure dance course had she applied. “My mum asked the principle if there was anyway that I could still be considered and we were told to call back a week later,” said Nikki. “When we made the call I was offered a place, but I wouldn’t believe it until I had received the confirmation letter. It was like winning the lottery but not having the cheque in your hand.” Nikki described it as “the best feeling” when she received her confirmation from the academy, who have had students go onto perform in West End Musicals and even across Europe, with 75% of graduates gaining work within six months last year. As you can imagine, funding a three-year dance course is very expensive and Nikki is appealing to local businesses who may be interested in sponsoring her. If you are interested, please email us at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it and we will pass your details onto her.

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