ELEVEN months of rehearsal and hard work paid off for a group of Disney dancers as they sparkled once more in the magic Kingdom.

Members of Centre Stage Performing Arts, which was formed by Louise Ferrier seven years ago, travelled to Disneyland Paris earlier this month to take part in the ‘Perform in the Magic’ experience, which provides dance or performing arts schools with the chance to enjoy an on-stage performance within the Disney parks.

It is the second time that the dance academy, which is based in Crossgates, have performed at the theme park, having successfully auditioned to perform in its 25th anniversary celebrations two years ago.

A total of 13 dancers, ranging in age from eight to 14, showcased their own routine in the park’s Videopolis Theatre and, in little more than a month’s time, 10 more will represent Scotland in the ‘Dance the World’ convention in Florida.

“We performed in the Videopolis Theatre, which is in the main park, and this time the kids also went backstage to a workshop where they are creating new shows,” said Louise, who also runs classes in Kelty, Dunfermline and Rosyth.

“It left them feeling inspired and they soaked up the magic of Disney. For a lot of them, it was their first time, and they were doing a ‘Welcome to the Movies’ show, with four dances from different movies.

“We spent 11 months putting it all together, and within that we did a lot of fundraising, which had blown away all my expectations. The Centre Stage family is becoming really big but they have supported all of our events.

“We’re looking at going back in 2021 but we’ve got Disney Florida in seven weeks, and we are the first group from the UK that are going to perform at the Dance the World Convention.”