A FULLY functioning merry-go-round provided the centrepiece for a spectacular performance at the Stockton International Riverside Festival last night.

Carousel, performed on Stockton High Street by the Southpaw Dance Company, was billed as an edgy story of the enigmatic characters who inhabit the fairground.

Music, dance and theatre combined for the show, in which the performers used the carousel's revolving platform to a Balkan and Gypsy-inspired score.