On her birthday, 24 January, with her family in the audience, on the final day of ENB's six-week season at the London Coliseum, Laurretta Summerscales discovered she was promoted to Principal of English National Ballet.
Joining Summerscales on stage after her performance as Medora in Le Corsaire at the London Coliseum, Tamara Rojo announced the promotion in front of the audience and Company, saying, “Laurretta is such a special dancer, her classical technique, her musicality, and her emotional, theatrical instinct, make her a stage animal. And I have no doubt that she will be a Principal dancer with an international reputation”.
Upon graduation from English National Ballet School, Surrey-born Summerscales joined the Company in 2009 and was promoted to First Soloist in 2013. With ENB, she has played Swanilda in Coppélia, Odette / Odile in Swan Lake, Juliet in Rudolf Nureyev’s Romeo & Juliet, Clara in Nutcracker and Medora in Le Corsaire.
She has won the Joyce Percy Memorial Award, Stella Mann Award, Baines-Hewitt Award, Young Dancer of the Year 2007-2009 and Molly Lake Award. In 2013, she won Gold Medal at the Bejing International Ballet Competition. She was a finalist in the 2011 and 2013 Emerging Dancer competition, ENB’s initiative for young talent within the company, and has won the People’s Choice Award at Emerging Dancer in 2013 and 2015. In 2015 Laurretta became Brand Ambassador for Backes & Strauss.