EIGHT young dancers from Hook have had a successful trip to Jersey.

The girls returned triumphant from their journey south to compete in the Dance World Cup, where they had been competing as part of Team England’s national dance team alongside 4,000 dancers from 38 countries.

The most successful team was the quartet of Emilia Gonzalez and Holly Pryke-Smith, from Hook Junior School, and Eva Brooks and Poppy Wilson, from Whitewater Primary School.

The former are year four students at the school, while the latter two are currently in year three.

It was their ‘Under 9 Modern Quartet’ routine which won them the gold medal and in turn, made them world champions.

They joined a selected group of gold medal winners when they were additionally invited to perform at the under 13s Dance World Cup Gala at the Jersey Opera House during the competition.

All the girls in the group were selected by the Team England artistic director and England selection panel in November 2015, and the girls have also been training hard alongside British and international dance adjudicator and dance school principal Karen Blackburn.

They tasted further success when Lucy Bullock, Emma Gibbon, Lucia Gonzalez and Jemima Kingwell from year 6 at Hook Junior School earned a silver medal for their Under 13 Song and Dance Quartet ‘I Won’t Grow Up’ from Peter Pan, impressing the judges with their characterful, high energy dance and vocals.

Karen Blackburn said: “It was a wonderful opportunity for these talented young dancers to be selected for Team England and I am so proud of their achievement.

“Week in week out, they work so hard and demonstrate such commitment in their classes that I am delighted they have come away with such an amazing award, especially amongst the level of international talent seen at the dance world cup.”

All eight girls train every week at the Elizabeth Hall and the Community Centre in Hook where they teach ballet, modern, tap, contemporary and musical theatre at the Karen Blackburn Academy of Dance (KBDA). The KBDA falls under the Loose Moose Theatre Arts school umbrella and more information can be found at loose-moose.co.uk.