Saltus student Eryn Beach has been tripping the light fantastic in dance productions across the Island since fully devoting herself to ‘the study of movement’ at the age of eleven. Now, at 17, she is preparing for her biggest challenge yet after being accepted into one of Europe’s most prestigious dance schools.

After auditioning in New York City as one of 2,000 hopeful students, Eryn and only 99 others will be attending Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in England, the UK’s only conservatoire of music and contemporary dance.

“It’s a big achievement and I’m really excited,” said Eryn. “The success rate of the graduates is, I think, the highest in the UK. They have the most graduates getting jobs and joining companies. The course is strictly contemporary dance, and we do take ballet, because the technique side of dance is very important to prevent injuries.

“But the majority of the day we will be studying contemporary dance.”

The school is known for innovative course provision, exciting performances and groundbreaking education, and is a leader in the advancement of creative artistic practice according to Nicole Chichon-DeSilva, director of Guidance and Development at Saltus.

She noted the school was ranked number one for dance in UK newspaper The Guardian’s University Guide 2012.

“It has a world class reputation for training professional dancers and is one of only five UK universities to achieve a success rate of 98 percent in getting graduating students into employment or further study,” said Ms Chichon-DeSilva.

But as deputy head girl of her SGY2 class, dance isn’t the only thing Eryn has excelled at. Between involvement in her school’s theatrical performances, music programme, and teaching at local dance schools, one might wonder how Eryn manages to fit the 18 hours of dance practice she requires of herself every week.

“You have to balance both. I’m very big on organisation. If I don’t keep my grades up, then I couldn’t go to dance and do as much dance, because school is important, and if you don’t finish school you can’t do anything, even if it is dance and not an academic field, it is important.”

Eryn’s devotion to her art is perhaps most clearly explained when asked about the rigours of training professional dancers face every day.

“I’ve done summer programmes where I’ve danced all day, and going back to regular life after that felt strange to me. So I’m excited to just go away and dance all day and all the time.”

In addition to dancing, Eryn is a regular honour roll student and has served as prefect and deputy house captain, “demonstrating a continued commitment to the school community and high personal standards,” said Ms Chichon-DeSilva.

She also regularly volunteers for a number of worthy causes including Youth Net Reading and Mentoring and Sunday School support. But through it all, dance remains the biggest love in her life.

“I think turning up to the studio, I just like being there,” said Eryn, when asked about what makes her love dance so much. “l like learning choreography, I like being corrected and learning new stuff and ... moving, I guess. I love to move. With dance I get to move a lot ...”

Whether you’re a dancer, or harbour other dreams of making it big, said Eryn, failure will always be assured if you never attempt to follow that dream.

“If [you] want it then [you] should go for it. I think the struggle with being Bermudian and living in Bermuda is that the confidence with going for stuff isn’t there because there are a lot of people here who tell you that you cant do it. But if you really want something you have to try, you have to go for it and try.”