A TEAM of seven young dancers from Droitwich are heading off to represent their country at the Dance World Cup in Romania at the end of June.

The dancers who all attend Harlequin Stage School in Worcester, managed to make an extremely strict cut for the England dance team, which restricted entrants to only three dancers allowed to represent the country for each category.

Lydia Faizey, Lili Wakefield, Jake Wakefield, Sophie Pegg, Olivia Mound, Carmen Pascolutti and Jessica Seabridge from Droitwich are part of the team, which will see 10 solo dancers taking part, along with seven duets, 14 trios and 16 groups all from the same school, making the trip to Bucharest.

Paula Dymock runs the school. She said: “The honour of making the selection team and to know that you are training students on a world level is fabulous. We have achieved so much in England and to be able to now stand on a world stage representing our country is taking some sinking in. I really do feel very, very proud of my students and teachers that they have reached this standard. This is going to be the biggest competition that Harlequin have ever entered and it’s such an honour for us.”

Parents from the school have raised £35,000 to help fund the 10-day trip, which will see more than 18,000 competitors from 38 countries, taking part in a range of dance styles including ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop and traditional dance routines from June 28 to July 4 in the Romanian capital.