A SCOTTISH ballet dancer has won gold at a prestigious international competition judged by Dame Darcey Bussell.
Antonia Cramb, an 18-year-old from Crieff in Perthshire, took home the top prize after competing in the Margot Fonteyn International Ballet Competition in London.
Cramb beat out dozens of dancers from across the globe to win the gold medal.
However, she told The National that her journey into ballet was far from the norm.
“I had a very unorthodox route into ballet,” she said. “It’s definitely not been an easy journey.
“I started dancing when I was two but I didn’t really take it seriously until I was 11, when I went for an audition to get into the Royal Ballet School in London.
“Before then I’d never seen ballet done to such a high-standard, [I didn't know] that it could actually be done professionally as a career. It gave me the fire.
“Having had no formal ballet training I couldn’t believe it when I got a final audition.”
Cramb ended up being offered a place at the Royal Ballet School but left soon after starting due to the demands of living away from home.
“I’m a real homebody and I missed my family,” she said.
“So, I came back to Scotland and from the ages of 12 to 16 I trained a couple of nights a week in my local church hall and did the Scottish Ballet Associate Programme.
“I was very much a normal kid, I went to a normal high school and sat all my exams.
“The only difference was I would do ballet classes at night with my childhood ballet teacher, Trisha Meenaghan-Wackrow, who I couldn’t have done any of this without.”
Cramb has spent the past two years on the BA Modern Ballet programme at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow, which is delivered in partnership with Scottish Ballet.
Last year, she competed in the Margot Fonteyn International Ballet Competition but didn’t take home a medal despite becoming a finalist.
“I was really just using it to gain some performance experience,” she said.
“But when I saw classmates applying this year I just couldn’t not do it.
“It’s a gruelling experience. It’s essentially a week of coaching and competition with both class work and individual performances.
“But it’s always a great learning experience, which is why I love it. It shows the beautiful side of ballet.”
Cramb was up against 66 competitors from 13 different countries and was being judged by dancing legends such as Dame Darcey Bussell and Italian prima ballerina Alessandra Ferri.
Despite such fierce competition, Cramb clinched the gold medal.
She said: “When I made the final round I said to myself: ‘That’s enough, I’m happy with that’.
“It was already so special, to be judged by some of my biggest inspirations like Alessandra Ferri.
“When I won, I just couldn’t believe it. It’s still not sunk in!”.
As well as medals, dancers are also competing for highly coveted tuition scholarships.
Following her victory, Cramb announced that she would soon begin a professional contract as an artist with the Scottish Ballet.
“This has been my childhood dream,” said Cramb. “I’m just so excited to get started.”
