A CROSSGATES dance school are ready to perform on the global stage this summer by representing Scotland at a major international competition.

Centre Stage Performing Arts, who are based within the Royal British Legion on Main Street, are set to have 35 of their numbers perform at this year's Dance World Cup.

The event, which will take place in Prague in the Czech Republic, from June 27 to July 6, and will see dancers from around 65 countries take part.

In 2023, 19 Centre Stage performers travelled to the Dance World Cup in Braga, Portugal, which attracted 7,500 competitors.

Louise Cameron, principal teacher and the owner and founder of Centre Stage, said: "You're always just shocked at these results because this is the whole of Scotland.

"The solos, the duos, the trios - you have to place first, second or third in the whole of Scotland. You do your entries and you put them away, but you don't think too much into it.

"We've got 40 dances going out to Prague, and about 35 dancers, which is double the dancers and double the entries we had last year.

"It is good to reflect and see what we had last year, our results we last year, and it just came around so quickly, the qualifiers again. That was filmed in the October break, then we submitted it all away, and we just found out in December that we've got all of these kids qualifying.

"I'm as proud as punch of them. It's really really great."

The Dance World Cup is one of several big events that members of Centre Stage are set to participate in throughout the upcoming year.

In March, they will hold their bi-annual show at the Carnegie Hall in Dunfermline, whilst 110 youngsters will travel to Paris to perform at Disneyland.

Central Fife Times: Centre Stage dancers will also perform in Paris in March.Centre Stage dancers will also perform in Paris in March. (Image: Centre Stage Performing Arts.)

"These are new kids, they've never been before, it's their first time, and they'll be doing the parade and the show out there," Louise added.

"They are just electric; they can't wait. This is the biggest Paris trip we've done, and they are all ecstatic.

"We've got 32 kids - again, they're new kids, some of them are as young as five - going down to His Majesty's Theatre in London to perform at Christmas time.

"I think there's about 10 schools that are selected for the performance. They'll do their own number in the first half, and their own number in the second half, and then they'll do a finale with the other schools. It's a big performance in the big West End!

"We've got a team that are going out to New York City, a new team in 2025, and they've started fundraising already.

"We're really lucky. We've got a great team and so much going on this year for sure."

Centre Stage, who also run classes in Kelty and Rosyth, have added Highland dancing to their offering, and are enrolling new dancers.

For more information, find them on Facebook, or visit www.centrestageperformingarts.com.