Former Royal Ballet principal leads programme bringing ballet to schools sparking smiles and joy

One of the best known prima ballerinas of her generation is leading a project to teach ballet to 900 schoolchildren in the most deprived areas of the West Midlands.

Rome-born Viviana Durante, a former principal dancer at The Royal Ballet, is leading the three-month programme with pupils in Birmingham, the Black Country and Coventry.

Next week, the children will perform in a full-scale production of Tchaikovsky's The Sleeping Beauty at Birmingham Symphony Hall, alongside professionals from Birmingham Royal Ballet and a 50-piece orchestra.

Durante, 59, now a ballet educator, said: "It's our duty as professional dancers to inspire the younger generation."

The programme is being delivered by Birmingham-based Transformation Partnership, which works with schools to make elite-level arts education accessible to young people who would otherwise not have access to it.