DANCE

Natasha began dancing at the age of 3 and trained at the Elizabeth Hill School of Dance and Drama in St. Helens. She has also been a Mid and Senior Associate of the Royal Ballet School and Northern Ballet Academy. She has trained in the styles of ballet, tap, modern, jazz and contemporary, and also studies classical Indian dance with Jayanthi Sivakumar in Manchester. She has enjoyed much success from a young age, qualifying for the All England Dance National Finals seven times and winning a total of 17 gold medals. At the age of 10, being one of the youngest dancers in the category, she won the title of ‘English Junior Ballet Champion’ and has since won the English, British and International Senior Ballet Championships. She has also won North of England Championships in Tap, Modern and Song & Dance.

In 2008 she was Runner-Up in the national Fonteyn Nuryev Young Dancers junior competition in London, where all the finalists had the opportunity to be coached, as a group and on a one-to-one basis, with the late choreographer Dame Gillian Lynne. In 2013 she won the very prestigious ‘All England Young Dancer of the Year’ award at the Bloomsbury Theatre in London, adjudicated by Dame Beryl Grey, and was also awarded the Molly Tanner national award for her Bharatanatyam solo (a form of classical Indian dance).

In addition to competing Natasha has taken Major level dance exams in various styles, receiving distinctions in RAD Grade 8 and Advanced 1 Ballet and in ISTD Advanced 1 Modern, Advanced 2 Tap and Gold Jazz. She has also participated in numerous shows and concerts, both with the Elizabeth Hill school and with other companies. She is often invited to perform her Indian dance solos at cultural events around the country. In 2013 she was a soloist in the English Youth Ballet’s production of Swan Lake in Preston, dancing the role of the Spanish Princess, and was presented with an award for the best senior amateur dancer in the cast.