HUNDREDS of young dancers will be putting their best feet forward during the Sunderland Schools Dance Festival tomorrow.

The event, in its 17th year, has been organised by University of Sunderland dance lecturer, Lesley Younger.

She will be welcoming 300 students from 16 schools across the city who have spent the past few weeks perfecting their routines.

Ms Younger said: "The festival enables these dancers to share their work with a real audience and is often the first time they have performed on stage.

"It also gives their friends and families a chance to celebrate the achievements of these hard-working and creative young people."

The dancers include students from the university's BA (Hons) performance arts studies programme.

The programme will include disco, street dance, 50s and 60s music, Spanish dance and oriental music.

The public performance is from 1.30pm to 4pm.

Tickets are available from the Empire Theatre, High Street West, Sunderland.

They cost £2 for adults and £1.50 for children. There are concessions for school groups.