TWO aspiring ballerinas have danced their way to London.

Teesside schoolgirls Abbie Watson, 11, and Hannah Dawson, 12, recently performed before 5,000 people at the Royal Albert Hall.

They were among 40 students from the Bradley School of Dance, at Great Ayton, who were invited to take part in Stars in the Round exhibition performances with other dance schools from across the UK.

It was Abbie's first visit to the city.

She said: "I was really excited about going to London. It was quite hard learning the new dances and I was very nervous about performing.

"We shared a dressing room with another dance school, so we got to know other girls. It was really exciting to perform at the Royal Albert Hall."

Hannah said: "I wasn't really that nervous about performing and I'll never forget being able to dance at the Royal Albert Hall. We were given T-shirts to bring home as souvenirs of the day."

Abbie and Hannah attend the King's Academy, in Coulby Newham, Middlesbrough.

The young dancers visited the London Eye and other sights while in the capital.

Together with the rest of the dance school, they have previously performed at Disneyland Paris and they dance at Middlesbrough's Little Theatre each year.