A GROUP of young dancers have returned from the Irish Dancing World Championships with a host of medals under their belts.

The dancers, who are all aged eight to 17, took part in the competition in Malaga, Spain, earlier this month and each dancer brought home at least one world or European title.

The group, from the Jersey School of Performing Arts, also came third out of the 20 countries that took part for their show team piece ‘Cayos on HMS Jersey Lily’ – a comedy dance piece about a group of inexperienced pirates trying to capture a ship bound for Jersey.

School principal Lucy Riseborough said she was very proud at how her team performed against such tough competition.

‘It meant everything,’ she said. ‘It was nice to see that Jersey can be recognised, despite being such a small place.

‘The organiser of the competition also said how we had done extremely well to not only take part but also place against countries like Ireland and Germany, who had very big teams.’

The dancers, who have had warm-up jumpers sponsored by MotorMall, will now prepare for a show at the Arts Centre on 26 and 27 June, and three members of the group, Rosie Moore, Charlotte Hooper and Scarlett Moore will be travelling to Sardinia shortly after to take part in the Dance World Cup. Fellow group member Francesca Vincent also qualified for the World Cup but is unable to take part because of A-level exams.

Anyone interested in supporting the team for future competitions, which are currently funded by parents, should contact Lucy Riseborough on 07797 750324.

Jersey team: Rosie Moore (8), James McCormick (12), Charlotte Hooper (12), Rosie Lee (13), Scarlett Moore (15), Christie McCormick (14), Francesca Vincent (17), Thomas Menard (17).

The team with members of the Ballet Espanola de Rosa Romera, who performed in between the competing groups