‘Such a buzz’ - Rising Norfolk star charts career in the arts
Rising star from Dereham, Ellie Nevard. - Credit: Rekha Garton
The pandemic has made launching a career in the creative arts a major challenge for 19-year-old Ellie Nevard.
But Miss Nevard, from Dereham, said she was determined to forge ahead in her chosen field.
She recently graduated - via Zoom because of the lockdowns - from a three-year dance and drama course at Laine Theatre Arts, which she said was "a whirlwind".
Miss Nevard said: “There’d be a ballet class at 9am, and you’ve got 15 minutes to change, spring to your next class and you’d be trying to master a Southern US accent.”
She started dancing when she was three, and went on to lessons at Dereham's Busy Bodies stage school, where she became head girl and dance captain.
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She said: “The teachers literally watched me grow up - they were a huge part of my life and it’s such a special place to me, it always will be."
Miss Nevard launched her filming career by starring in a music video for the East Anglian singer-songwriter Huntar.
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She said: "It was amazing to film on an airfield in an old vintage car. It was also the first time I’d ever been on a set, so to see how it worked - I was 17 - I thought it was incredible.
“It was my first proper insight into the filming industry - I was so fortunate to get that.”
Although Covid-19 has delayed her plans of moving to London, Miss Nevard spent much of last summer with other young Norfolk creatives.
In August, she co-produced and starred in a music video for the band Out at Sea, which she worked on with her boyfriend Callum Heinrich.
Miss Nevard said: “It was funny, we met on a little bike ride and it turned out he does musical theatre too.
“He’s got some friends who are in an up-and-coming Indie rock band, and he does filming and photography so they asked if we could make a video for their new EP.”
Looking at what 2021 may hold, Ms Nevard said: “It would just be lovely, even if it’s not me involved, to see theatres opening again. Just looking forward to going to see a show would be really nice.”