Ballet dancer Lydia gets set for Olympic duty (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Bibury teenage Olympic torchbearer will dance the Olympic route

1:33pm Monday 21st May 2012 in Olympic Torch Relay By Charlotte Shepherd

BALLET dancing sensation lydia Holt, 14, will carry the Olympic torch in Cheltenham this Wednesday watched on by a coachload of her old school friends from Hatherop Castle School.

And the Bibury teenager is hoping that she will be marking the occasion in true ballet dancer-style, wearing a specially made pair of patriotic pointe shoes.

Lydia began dancing at a young age at the Cirencester Creative Dance Academy and now studies at the Elmhurst School of Dance.

She was chosen to be a torchbearer as one of the Olympic ‘future flames’ because of her burning passion for dance.

She has also always been eager to get involved with helping others, fundraising for Children in Need. She is about to start voluntary work at Cheltenham Hospital.

Although no stranger to the spotlight, having danced on some major stages including the Royal Albert Hall, her turn as a torchbearer is causing her some nerves.

She said: “I feel as if I am carrying this torch on behalf of the thousands of ballet dancers around the country who all work so hard to achieve a similar level of fitness as the Olympians taking part.

“I am hoping that I will be allowed to do a split jump during my relay as a salute to ballet dancers. I don't feel any more special than my friends that I dance with but I do feel very lucky and honoured that I was picked to carry the torch and right now I am feeling really nervous."