Ballet Dancer Charlie-Beth Smith to perform in USA - South Wales Argus

15-year-old ballet dancer, Charlie-Beth Smith from Newport has been selected to represent

the UK in Cecchetti International Classical Ballet Competition in Michigan this July. 

After attending the Birmingham selection event for the Cecchetti International Classical

Ballet Competition back on the 11th of February, Charlie-Beth Smith was chosen for the

competition in Michigan which only occurs every 3 years.

Emma and Gavin Smith, Charlie-Beth’s parents, said that her teachers were contacted by

the Cecchetti society in January when they discovered that she was eligible for the

competition. The selection process in Birmingham included her performing choreographies

taught to her on the day. 

Charlie-Beth has been dancing since the age of 7 at Children’s Ballet Wales. Her mum says

she “fell in love straight away” and was “literally under the teacher’s feet, she couldn’t get

enough”. Her dedication to ballet transcends distance, as her parents note that despite

travelling to Birmingham and London every Saturday since she was young, she has never

been put off and does everything she can do to improve.

She has received a lot of support from her current school, Bassaleg, throughout her ballet

journey, with her school letting her do 5 GCSEs after recognising her talent, so she can train

on a pre professional program with Ballet Cymru. Her and her parents are grateful for the support stating that she couldn’t have done it without them, making sure to extend a thank

you to her ballet teachers and Children’s Ballet Wales. 

She is excited to get to perform on an international stage and is honoured by having the

opportunity to compete in such a prestigious competition. Her parents mention that she has

had to work extra hard to be able to compete, as the other competitors were vocational ballet students, whereas she wasn’t. 

For the competition, she will be performing a classical solo, a contemporary solo, and will do

some more unset choreographies. 

Being 15, Charlie-Beth needs to bring a chaperone with her to the competition and has set

up a gofundme page to help cover the costs of both their flights and accommodation, which

adds up to over £5,000, after the £2,000 bursary from the Cecchetti Trust. The gofundme

has raised £640 out of the £3,000 goal. 

The link for the Gofundme is: https://www.gofundme.com/f/ballet-dreams-help-charliebeth-

get-to-michigan