TWO young dancers from Hook have been offered places in the prestigious National Youth Ballet of Great Britain school.

Sisters Lucia and Emilia Gonzalez will dance in the 2016 season along with 118 other young dancers from across the country.

Lucia, 11, and Emilia, 9. will be part of the academy which is led by professional dancers and choreographers who work with youngsters aged eight to 16.

The highlight of the 2016 season will be a Gala performance at international dance house, Sadler’s Wells in London on Sunday, September 4.

Lucia and Emilia attend Robert May’s School and Hook Junior School, respectively, and they began learning to dance aged three, with both attending The Karen Blackburn Dance Academy in Hook.

Following their successful auditions, the sisters said: “We are so excited about being invited to join the company – we went to the auditions for the experience of going to a ballet class at the Royal Academy of Dance so we couldn’t believe it when we were both recalled to the audition final at The English National Ballet School.

“Being invited to join the company is a dream come true – it will be hard work but will be worth it when we get to go on stage and perform”.

This is the second major dancing success for the two girls, who recently represented England at The Dance World Cup 2016 in Jersey, bringing home a gold and silver medal with their song and dance and modern quartet team mates.

The girl’s mother, Tara Gonzalez, was bursting with pride when she said: “I’m so proud of both the girls. The training is a lot of hard work but it’s amazing to have the opportunity to work with such talented dancers and up and coming choreographers.

“I still remember the first time I took the girls to dance class when they were three and four years old. If someone had told me then that one day they would perform at Sadler’s Wells with stars of the ballet world watching, I would never have believed it.

“It’s going to be a proud moment when they step out on that stage.”

National Youth Ballet involves talented young dancers aged eight to 18 in every aspect of creating a ballet, from the conception of an idea through to performance on stage at a professional level.

The company also encourages children from all walks of life to become involved with dance through schools and community workshops.

The national organisation also utilises the skills of students in associated arts and encourages the talents of young designers, costumiers, musicians and student teachers in the preparation and production of all their work.

For this year’s season, the National Youth Ballet of Great Britain will present a special programme of performances celebrating its inspirational founder and artistic director Jill Tookey, who passed away in March this year. They will be performing at the Hawth Theatre in Crawley on the last weekend August, with the special Memorial Gala performance at Sadler’s Wells following just a week later.

Find out about planning applications that affect you by visiting the Public Notice Portal.

For more information about the group and their shows, visit www.NationalYouthBallet.org