6th November 2024
At the age of 11, Lewis Charlton enrolled at the Royal Ballet School in London, where places are offered to only the most talented students. Lewis spent the next five years being trained in classical ballet at the internationally renowned school.
He went on to the Arts Educational School in Chiswick, London where he studied photography, media and acting for two years. Lewis excelled in Acting, gaining two A stars and an A in his BTEC qualification.
Lewis, who received a total of £6,000 in various grants from the Foundation, including from Cumbria Cultural Fund, to support his creative ambitions, said: “It just made the whole thing possible. I don’t think I would have been able to go down to London without it. It was nice to know that there was someone in the community who cared about these things and wanted people like me to pursue their dreams.”
To pursue his dreams, Lewis has had to spend much of his life in the capital, far away from his Whitehaven home, a move that forced him to be independent, particularly when he started living on his own from the age of 16. But he has also found time to pass on his performing skills to other young dancers in the community. Over the years, on visits home he has delivered master classes to pupils at a local theatre and dance school where he developed his own talent as a child.
Lewis said: “It’s brilliant. It’s such a good idea to help people like me who have something they want to do but it might not be accessible because of money or things like that.”