WINCHESTER ballerina is set to make her West End debut at the age of 11 after winning a place on the cast of Snow White.

Helena Bruce beat more than 500 dance hopefuls to star in London Children’s Ballet’s adaptation in April.

She is already rehearsing alongside 55 other young dancers, who were selected from 600 candidates after a rigorous audition process.

The family production casts the Grimm Brother’s classic fairy story to Richard Norriss’ original score, performed by live orchestra.

Helena’s support roles include Snowflake, Dancing Class Friend, and Party Guest gymnast.

Her parents said: “Helena started ballet at her local school, as all the other little girls seemed to do ballet. She has two older brothers, so ballet was a new experience for us as a family! She loves dancing and contemporary ballet is her favourite style. She aspires to be a choreographer or a director.”

The production is choreographed by Jenna Lee, who danced until recently as a soloist with English National Ballet.

She said: “You enter a company full of talented, excited and eager-to-learn ballet students who hang on your every word. The commitment and passion from some of the young dancers has been overwhelming.”

London Children’s Ballet (LCB) offers talented nine-to-16-year-olds from diverse backgrounds over 100 hours of free tuition and performance experience in a bid to prove ballet’s social mobility.

A spokesman said: “The work of LCB aims to dispel the widespread myth that ballet is a niche, middle class activity for today’s younger generation. Over 500 children audition for the LCB production, of which three per cent are on income support. Fifty-five per cent of the successful dancers come from low or very low income families.

Snow White will be performed at the Sadler’s Wells Peacock Theatre, in central London, from April 23 to 26.

To book tickets, or for more information, visit sadlerswells.com.