Lila McGrath is making waves in the world of ballet after recently taking home the Tanya Pearson Memorial Award at the Sydney Eisteddfod Ballet Scholarship.
The prejudice event was held at the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall last Sunday, July 21.
“It was an amazing experience and atmosphere at the Opera House, I’ll never forget it,” Lila remarked.
The 15-year-old ballerina was selected out of hundreds of entrants across the nation and was the youngest out of eight finalists (being five girls and three boys) to be nominated. Her hard work beyond the stage has proven to be well worth the hard work and vigorous training sessions as she took home a medallion, $800 in prize money and $600 in scholarships for her exceptional artistry.
Lila was originally born in Mackay and now resides in Sydney to further her ballet endeavours. She is a former student of Leisa Payne School of Dance in Mackay and trained from a young age across all dance forms. For many years, she successfully competed at Mackay Eisteddfod in the dance, drama and signing sections.
In 2019, Lila was offered the opportunity to join the Visitor Program at Classical Coaching Australia, which allowed her to travel regularly to Brisbane to further her training. Lila now trains full-time in ballet and contemporary dance at Classical Coaching Australia in Brisbane and does her schooling through Cairns School of Distance Education. She recently spent the week in Melbourne for training as an invitee of The Australian Ballet School where she refines her skills for the upcoming competitions.
Reflecting on her love for the performing arts industry Lila said “I just love performing, it’s always been a passion and it’s taught me a lot of life lessons as well.”
Lila’s biggest supporter and mother Ruth said that “We’ve had the opportunity to go to some amazing places and meet some amazing friends.
“I think it’s a really good testament to Lila’s early quality of teaching in Mackay and she’s been able to have such a good grounding and has now gone to take it further.”
Lila has also competed successfully at international levels in Paris and New York, with plans to travel to London in early September for The Margot Fonteyn International Ballet Competition. Lila’s ultimate dream is to train full-time at a company school and progress to a career as a professional ballerina.
“Hopefully this inspires others from regional places that they can go a really long way,” Ruth added.
15-year-old Mackay-born Lila McGrath took home the Tanya Pearson Memorial Award at the Sydney Eisteddfod Ballet Scholarship last Sunday. Images supplied
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