The mirrors of the little dance studio on Kirkgate still reflect an empty space where Eleanor “Ellie” Hague used to fill with effortless pirouettes and infectious giggles. Yesterday evening, the lights stayed on long after the last class finished – not for rehearsals, but for tears. Teachers and pupils of the Starlight Academy of Dance gathered in a circle, clutching each other, unable to believe that the girl with the sparkling eyes and the impossibly high extensions would never again bound through the door in her favourite pale-pink leg warmers.
“She was our gorgeous girl,” studio owner Rachel Thornton said, voice cracking as she addressed the packed room. “Ellie wasn’t just talented – she was magic. The kind of dancer who made everyone stopped to watch, not because she demanded attention, but because she radiated joy. We are all in absolute shock.”
Ellie Hague, the 16-year-old sixth-former killed in Monday’s horrific minibus collision on Toulston Lane, had been a member of Starlight since she was four years old. In twelve years she had risen from the tiniest ballerina in the back row to the academy’s shining star – literally. This year she had been chosen to lead the senior troupe in their Christmas showcase, a contemporary piece set to Lewis Capaldi’s “Someone You Loved” that she had helped choreograph herself.
“Ellie had the most beautiful lines,” Miss Rachel recalled, pointing to a framed photograph on the studio wall: Ellie mid-grand jeté at last summer’s Yorkshire Dance Festival, arms flung wide, auburn ponytail streaming like fire behind her. “But what made her special was her heart. She’d stay behind after every class to help the little ones tie their ribbons or perfect their pliés. She wanted everyone to love dance the way she did.”
That love affair with dance began in the very same mirrored room. Ellie’s mother, Sarah Hague, still remembers the day her shy four-year-old clung to her leg on the first-lesson nerves, then emerged an hour later declaring, “Mummy, I’m going to be a ballerina when I grow up!” From that moment, dance became the rhythm of their family life – Saturday mornings at the studio, competitions in Blackpool and Birmingham, late-night sewing of sequins onto costumes, and endless proud videos sent to grandparents.
Yesterday, for the first time in twelve years, Sarah walked into Starlight without Ellie bouncing ahead of her. She stood in the doorway, clutching her daughter’s final pair of worn pointe shoes, and finally broke the silence that has gripped the family since Monday afternoon.
“She was only 16,” Sarah said, tears streaming down her face as dancers young and old formed a protective semicircle around her. “She was only 16… she had her whole future ahead of her. She was going to go to London, to Rambert or Northern Ballet School – she’d already been offered places for next September. She had auditions on video calls while revising for her A-levels. She was going to dance on West End stages, travel the world, maybe open her own school one day and teach little girls the way Miss Rachel taught her. All of that… gone. In one second. Because someone wasn’t paying attention.”
Sarah’s words hung heavy in the studio air, every syllable a fresh wound. Around her, teenagers who had grown up with Ellie – some still bandaged and bruised from the crash – sobbed openly. One girl, 17-year-old best friend Freya, wore a neck brace and clutched the sequinned scrunchie Ellie had lent her the morning of the crash.
“We were supposed to be rehearsing our duet this week,” Freya whispered. “She kept texting me silly warm-up videos from the minibus… then nothing. I keep checking my phone thinking maybe it’s a nightmare and she’ll message ‘got you!’ like she always did.”
The crash happened at 12:28 p.m. on Monday, December 2, as the white Mercedes Sprinter carrying nine sixth-form pupils home from Tadcaster Grammar School collided with a Hyundai i10 at the dangerous Toulston Lane/Rudgate junction. Ellie, seated near the back, suffered catastrophic injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene. Seven classmates were hospitalised; one remains in a serious but stable condition.
The 40-year-old female driver of the Hyundai was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and causing serious injury by dangerous driving. She has been released on conditional bail while North Yorkshire Police continue their investigation.
Back at Starlight, the impact is visceral. The Christmas showcase, scheduled for December 20 at the Riley Smith Hall, has been cancelled. In its place, the academy is planning a celebration of Ellie’s life – a performance entirely made up of pieces she loved or helped create. Rehearsals will begin next week, once pupils feel ready.
“We can’t imagine dancing without her,” said assistant teacher Charlotte Brooks, 22, who was once Ellie’s babysitter. “But we know she’d be furious if we stopped. She always said, ‘Miss Charlotte, the show must go on – even if you cry through every step.’ So that’s what we’ll do. We’ll dance for Ellie.”
A makeshift shrine has appeared outside the studio door overnight: ballet shoes, flowers, fairy lights, and handwritten cards. One, from a seven-year-old beginner class pupil, reads: “Dear Ellie, thank you for helping me not be scared of spinning. I will do a perfect pirouette for you in heaven. Love Poppy x”
Inside, the teachers have left Ellie’s usual spot at the barre untouched – her water bottle still there, her leg warmers draped over the wooden rail exactly where she flung them last Saturday after acro class. “We can’t bring ourselves to move them,” Rachel admitted. “It still smells like her coconut hair spray.”
Sarah Hague revealed that Ellie’s dream had evolved in recent months. While contemporary and ballet remained her first love, she had secretly begun writing choreography inspired by the mental health struggles some of her friends faced. “She wanted to create a piece called ‘Still I Rise’,” Sarah said, managing a tiny, proud smile through tears. “She said dance should make people feel less alone. That’s the kind of heart she had.”
The family has been overwhelmed by support. A GoFundMe titled “Ellie’s Legacy – Helping Young Dancers Soar” has already raised over £67,000 in 48 hours, seeded with donations from the UK dance community and even messages from West End performers Ellie idolised. The money will create scholarships for talented children from low-income families to attend Starlight – exactly what Ellie had planned to do herself one day.
“Every time a little girl who can’t afford classes gets to put on pointe shoes because of this fund,” Sarah said, “that will be Ellie still dancing. Her light hasn’t gone out – it’s just passed into hundreds of other children.”
At Tadcaster Grammar School and Sherburn High’s shared sixth form, counsellors remain on site. Pupils have covered the school gates in pink ribbons – Ellie’s favourite colour – and the common room now houses a memory table overflowing with photographs, dance medals, and her beloved copy of “The Dancer’s Book of Quotes”, pages dog-eared at Maya Angelou and Martha Graham.
Headteacher Dr Marcus Hale said: “Ellie brought grace to everything she did – whether solving a complex psychology essay or landing a triple pirouette. Her absence is a hole that will never be filled, but her example will guide us forever.”
As night fell over Tadcaster last night, the Starlight dancers gathered one last time this week. They dimmed the lights, pressed play on Ellie’s favourite warm-up track – a soft piano cover of “Hallelujah” – and danced in silence, each movement a tribute, each tear a promise. In the mirrors, for fleeting moments, some swear they still see her reflection spinning beside them.
Sarah Hague stood at the barre, clutching those worn pointe shoes to her chest, and whispered the words that now define an entire community’s grief:
“She was only 16. She had her whole future ahead of her… and now she dances with the angels instead.”
But even through the heartbreak, Sarah vowed Ellie’s story will not end in a crash on Toulston Lane.
“She always said the stage was the one place she felt truly free,” Sarah said. “So we’re going to make sure hundreds of other children get to feel that freedom – in her name. That’s how we keep her alive. That’s how the show goes on.”
Services of remembrance and the rescheduled celebration of Ellie’s life will be announced next week. In the meantime, the ribbons stay tied, the music stays on, and a gorgeous girl with the whole world at her feet continues to inspire everyone she ever touched – one perfect, heartbreaking pirouette at a time.
