Elinor Hernell, 13, never imagined she would be offered a position with the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow but hopes to make the journey half way across the world in January. 

Without Elinor knowing, her dance teachers from Angus and Lucinda's Academie de Danse, Bowral, sent an audition tape to the Russian ballet for consideration. 

Elinor found out once she was accepted. 

“It was overwhelming, I wasn’t expecting it. When they told me, I sat there in shock,” she said. 

“I am honored but scared. I am excited about going to a huge company that is really well known and learning from the best.”

Although she started dancing at age three, Elinor was not interested in ballet until she was seven. 

Elinor, who has never been overseas before, will need to learn Russian for her six-month contract with the Bolshoi ballet. 

To make the dream of training overseas a reality, the Hernell family have started a GoFundMe page. 

Elinor’s mum Triana Parry said they needed to raise $20,000 to cover the trip. 

“It will cost $16,000 to stay there and have lessons,” she said.

“The rest of the money would go to transport, a laptop and ballet gear. We haven’t booked a flight yet because if we don’t raise the funds, we can’t afford for her to go.” 

Mrs Parry was terrified about her daughter going overseas alone but was excited about the once in a lifetime opportunity she was being given. 

“This is an incredible opportunity that may never come again. It is an extremely competitive industry where few are given a chance like this,” she said.

“As any mother would feel, letting go of their child to pursue their dreams, especially at such a young age, is an incredibly difficult and emotional decision to make.

“ I don't want her to go, but I think that if she doesn't go, she will always wonder ‘what if?’.”

Dance teacher Lucinda Bensoussan said it was “exceptionally rare” for someone to be accepted into the Bolshoi academy. 

“Elinor is extremely dedicated and deserves this. She has worked for it for a long time,” she said. 

“You have to have the right look and she does. It isn’t just the physique, it is the right everything.

“I didn’t want to tell them because I thought it is very rare. We don’t know anyone else in the country that has got in. 

A fundraiser was held at The Mill on December 2.