Dubai ballet student Charlotte Rose dreams of Paris stage

Gulf News

Dubai ballet student Charlotte Rose dreams of Paris stage. Dubai ballet student Charlotte Rose is heading to Paris to participate in the semi-finals of the Young American Grand Prix (YAGP), one of the world’s most prestigious youth ballet competitions. Charlotte Rose studies ballet at the Dubai Dance Academy under the tutelage of the Academy's director, Reiko M Cheong. Charlotte is hoping that her performance in Paris will see her through to the 2016 Young American Grand Prix finals in New York. See more at: http://gulfnews.com/gntv

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00:00It's just another day of dancing for Charlotte Rose as she floats across the floor of the

00:20Dubai Dance Academy. At 14 years old, the young dancer is already a passionate and promising

00:24ballet student.

00:26I'm Charlotte Rose. I'm 14 years old. I started ballet when I was around four, but I wasn't

00:32very committed, and I only did it as like a hobby. And then I went into figure skating

00:39where I did competitions. And then after that, I went into hip hop, and we had to take ballet.

00:47So I took ballet, and then I came to Reiko to get even better, and now I've fallen in

00:52love with ballet.

00:56Charlotte has been studying at the Dubai Dance Academy for the past three years, and under

01:01the guidance of Reiko Chong, the Academy's director, the Dubai teen has been accepted

01:06to participate in the semifinals of the Young American Grand Prix, one of the world's most

01:10prestigious youth ballet competitions.

01:14She's going to Paris for the semifinals on the stage of Paris Opera School, where she

01:22wants to go one day.

01:24I'm flying to Paris, which is one of my favourite cities, and I'm going to dance on a stage

01:29with amazing, amazing dancers, and I'm going to compete with them. It's not about the prizes

01:36that I win, but it's the experience and being inspired from the other people.

01:44The event will take place at the end of October, and if Charlotte performs well in Paris, she

01:49will move on to the finals in New York. Preparing for such a prestigious dance competition is

01:53not easy, and Charlotte is dedicating as much time as she can to refining her skills.

01:58To have the right technique, you must go at least four times a week to classes to build

02:04that technique and have muscle memory. I've started to be very committed this year with

02:09more than four classes a week, and rehearsals all weekend.

02:14We are working almost like 15 hours per week, non-stop weekdays and weekends.

02:25The hours of dance training are demanding, and Charlotte has become accustomed to enduring

02:29physical pain as she strives to better her technique.

02:33The ballet is physically the hardest sport, but we cannot show the pain or, you know,

02:41we have to hide behind us and keep smiling.

02:45Of course, with pointe shoes, you go through a lot of pain with, like, ingrown toenails.

02:51I have all of those and blisters. Those hurt a lot.

02:54If you don't take care of yourself and if you don't work smart, then you could injure

03:01yourself, so you have to be literally on your toes.

03:05She practices hours and hours, but good pain. Good pain, good gain.

03:13There is also a great deal of social sacrifice for Charlotte, as her busy dance schedule

03:18leaves little time to relax with friends.

03:20For ballet, it takes a lot of sacrifice, and you can't go to, like, the parties or the

03:25sleepovers with your friends. It's just ballet, commitment, but it's worth it.

03:33According to Charlotte, her sacrifices are not in vain.

03:36The young dancer says that she gains a sense of peace and achievement from her practice.

03:41I love ballet because every day there's something new to learn. You're never perfect.

03:46There's always a journey to strive for this perfection.

03:50It's kind of tranquil and, like, relaxing.

03:54And, of course, I'm, like, working hard and sweating, which is not very relaxing,

03:59but it's relaxing in some sort of level through hard work.

04:02You see that you've progressed over time, you see it, and those, like, small hints of

04:07progress is very rewarding.

04:11While Charlotte is working hard to impress the judges at her upcoming performance in

04:15Paris, she has a dancing dream that goes beyond a single competition.

04:19I would love to be a ballerina. My dream would be Paris Opera.

04:23Charlotte will be competing in the Young American Grand Prix Semifinals in Paris on

04:27October 29th and hopes to return to Dubai with a place in the New York Finals in 2016.

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