Jonathan Ollivier: Dance project in memory of dancer in Northampton

A dance performance in memory of a ballet dancer killed in a motorbike crash hours before a show is taking place in his hometown.

Jonathan Ollivier, from Northampton, died ahead of the final show of Matthew Bourne's The Car Man at London's Sadler's Wells Theatre in August 2015.

Sixteen young people are taking part in A Project For Jonny, funded by donations after his death.

They will perform a piece at a theatre in Northampton on Friday.

The dance project is being led by Sir Matthew's New Adventures company.

Ollivier, 38, started dancing as a boy in Northampton and danced for companies including Cape Town City Ballet, the Northern Ballet Theatre and the Alberta Ballet Company in Canada.

He worked on a number of roles with New Adventures including The Swan in Swan Lake.

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Following his death, his family set-up a fundraising page with donations being split equally between Re:Bourne, the charitable arm of Sir Matthew's company, and the London Air Ambulance.

It is joint venture between Re:Bourne and the Royal and Derngate Theatre.

Sophia Hurdley, from New Adventures, one of two dancers leading the group, said: "Jonny always went for things in life, he wasn't afraid, he lived his life to the full, and we wanted to take that message on to the youth of today and go 'look, go for your dreams - he did - go for what you believe in'."

His sister Rachel Ollivier said it was "really important that we actually gave back because people were so generous in terms of wanting to donate".

"It's nice to see there are so many lads involved which is really, really important because I think the younger generation of lads are saying 'I'm not doing that, I'm playing football' and the thing is you can do it all. Jon did it all."