Kerenza-Marie Houston, aged 10 and a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Banbury congregation in Oxfordshire, was really excited to dance ballet at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
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Kerenza-Marie has been taking ballet classes for six years and this performance was something that she had been looking forward to for several months, and has been the highlight of her hobby. In total, about 60 girls from the LoveBallet Dance Company performed a piece called “Dancing For George” – a tribute to George Michael, as part of a special event organised by the Mardi Gras Company, involving 1500 dancers from 20 different dance schools from around the country.
Speaking about her performance, Kerenza-Marie said, “I was really nervous before I danced, but, once I got started, I managed to relax and get more confident. Afterwards I was really pleased to have been able to do it. It was amazing to be able to dance in front of 5,000 people.”
It is Kerena-Marie’s ambition to become a prima ballerina when she is older and she would love to dance the part of The Sugar Plum Fairy in the Nutcracker.
Marie Houston, Kerenza-Marie’s mother said, “We were incredibly proud of Kerenza-Marie as she had previously been rather shy. With a little faith she was able to achieve something that she didn’t think was possible. Her involvement in church activities has helped her gain confidence, for example singing with the other children and delivering short lessons.”
Marie added, “This has been a great first step towards her achieving her ambition to become a prima ballerina.”