Jersey dancer wins golden ticket to island's first professional dance company

• Report by ITV Channel's Katya Fowler

A Jersey dancer has received a golden ticket to the island's first professional dance company.

17-year-old Miriam Oliver will now work alongside 10 professional dancers at Ballet d'Jerri.

Miriam is just one of two additional younger dancers who have been awarded paid apprenticeship roles at the company, in the aim to provide a pathway for local talent to be mentored to a professional standard.

Miriam says she still cannot believe she has been chosen for the role.

Miriam said: "It is literally like a golden ticket, a golden ticket!

"For so many kids in the UK, this is what they're working towards - and I've got it!

"I just can't believe it, sometimes I'm just like - surely not!"

The dancers will be based in Jersey, working year-round developing their choreography and productions which will premiere in the island, and then be taken on tour around the world.

The company hopes use its time abroad to be a cultural ambassadors for the island, attracting more talent.

Ballet d'Jerri was founded by Carolyn Rose Ramsay, who worked at the Norwegian National Ballet, and wants to bring professional dancers to the Channel Islands.

More than 1,000 dancers from Jersey and across the world have auditioned for the 10 available positions.

Ballet d'Jerri will start welcoming the new dancers to the island from January 2023.