A ballet teacher hopes to revolutionise classical ballet training in the UK after winning a coveted award.

Kathie Strange is one of 98 people to have been awarded the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Travelling Fellowship. She said: "It's a once in a lifetime opportunity."

The 25-year-old ballet teacher will use the £7,000 award to explore ballet in different cultures in Canada, USA, Russia and Europe.

She will spend three months visiting the world's leading ballet companies to see how they train dancers from September.

She said: "I have always wanted to research classical training because I don't think it's very good in the UK.

"We have a high injury rate and low employment rate. If you look at English National Ballet - more than 70 per cent of dancers are not from the UK."

Kathie, of Cliffe Avenue, Baildon, teaches ballet at the Northern Dance Centre, Skipton. She hopes to pass on what she learns to British universities and ballet schools.

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