West End BILLY ELLIOT And Got To Dance Finalist is the only UK Dancer To Be Offered Place At Juilliard In New York

A gifted ballet dancer who trained at Tring Park School for the Performing Arts in the UK is the only dancer in the whole of the UK to be accepted into the prestigious Juilliard School of Performing Arts in New York City.

Kaine Ward is described by his old head teacher from Tring Park as having a "rare talent", and as "representing his country". His achievement is all the more remarkable as he is one of only 12 boys in the world to be given a place.

The legendary school in New York, which trained global superstars such as Robin Williams, Kelsey Grammer and Jessica Chastain, offered Kaine a place after he beat thousands of candidates to make it through the gruelling auditions process.

This is not the first time Kaine has come out of an audition triumphant. As a child, with no previous acting or singing experience, the super-talented young dancer was fast-tracked through the audition process to play Billy Elliot in the West End - which he did for nearly two years from the age of 11. He also made it to the finals of Sky TV's Got to Dance in 2014.

Kaine has now been at the school in New York for a year. However, his elation at his latest achievement is tinged with anxiety about whether he will be able to remain at the prestigious school for the duration of his course. His place there is hanging in the balance because of the cost of the four-year degree course - something his mother, who works for the ambulance service in the UK's NHS, cannot afford.

The tuition fees and accommodation in the performing arts school's student accommodation costs $68,000. Kaine has been awarded a $35,000 -a-year- scholarship but he has to raise the remainder himself and Kaine's mother, Christie Strong, an Emergency Medical Technician with the East of England Ambulance Service, who raised Kaine alone, simply doesn't have the money.

"This amount is more than my mum earns each year making it impossible for us to reach the financial needs of the school on our own," says Kaine.

"I have been working as a lifeguard for the past two years alongside spending my holidays and breaks at school working for Tring Park's associate programmes to help accumulate some money to put towards my training. I am now working in every spare moment I get in New York, but my income will only just about cover my living costs, and won't even make a dent in the course fees.

"Unfortunately, I am unable to take out a student loan from either country, as I will be on a student visa and not attending school in the United Kingdom."

Tring Park school in Hertfordshire has produced many global superstars in the arts: Daisy Ridley, Lily James and Drew McOnie all trained there. And the school's experts spotted Kaine's incredible potential when he was only 10 years old, and offered him a full scholarship for his entire secondary training and education.

Stefan Anderson, Principal of Tring Park School, says: "Kaine is a dancer with an extremely rare talent. We knew that we wanted to be a part of developing and nurturing that talent and are proud that we have supported him through the eight years of his secondary education.

"However, we are now hoping that he can somehow find the funds to take him on the next step of his journey to realise his full potential and fulfill his dreams. There are only 24 elite dancers on this course at this truly exceptional school in New York and Kaine is the ONLY dancer chosen from the UK (and only one of 4 chosen from outside the USA) so in many ways Kaine is representing his country. We are so proud of his achievements - but it is imperative that he finds the finances to enable him to embark on the next stage of his career."

To help Kaine achieve his goal go to his GoFundMe page: https://www.gofundme.com/help-send-kaine-to-juilliard

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