KW: Harriet Pakula Teweles asks: Since our country does not have the kind of state system we see in «Mao's Last
Dancer,» a bio-pic set in China where children are recruited at an early age and trained at state expense, how can we find our
talented young artists, especially among the youth whose parents can't afford private lessons?
A spokesperson for the DfE said the schemes «help the most
talented young actors,
dancers and musicians attend specialist schools» and are worthy of investment «because a child's background should be no barrier to pursuing a career in the performing arts».