Brand new junior dancer with the prestigious and national Indigenous dance company is Ella Havelka, who trained at Dubbo Ballet Studio before being accepted into the Melbourne-based Australian Ballet School.

As part of a troupe of 14 she’s immersed in its current tour of Fire, a retrospective work celebrating Bangarra’s 20-year journey into the global spotlight.

Only six weeks into her latest artistic pursuit, she’s already regarded as “our gorgeous Ella” by the company that “was watching her while she was watching us”.

A company spokesperson yesterday credited a Bangarra workshop in Dubbo and and Ella’s mother in “encouraging her to explore her Indigenous roots” through dance.

“We had our eyes on her for a number of years,” he said.

“But we wanted her to go through her classical training.”

The spokesperson said joining Bangarra had been a dream come true for the 20-year-old who will “mix and mingle” at a cocktail party on the Sydney Opera House forecourt after a gala performance on September 26.

Bangarra has pencilled in a return to Dubbo in 2011.

Tour dates and details are available on its website.