A GROUP of dancers from a Stourport dance school had very happy feet after being named national champions.

Throughout 2014, members of Step By Step Dance Studio took part in ‘That’s Showbiz’, a company which runs the biggest group competitions in Great Britain.

The dancers, aged between six and 17, competed in earlier heats, at Ellesmere Port and Dudley, in genres such as modern, classic lyrical and open acrobatics.

They took home 16 trophies, including the highest marks in modern and classic genres in the senior age group, first place overall in the Kidz age range for classic lyrical and also in the open acrobatics section for the mixed age group.

A pass to the grand final of the competition was gained by 26 of the group’s dancers, who travelled to Blackpool Winter Gardens for a chance to be win the national title.

One of the school’s groups, Palladio, performed an acrobatic display in the Kidz age range – for 10 to 13-year-olds – and not only won first place in their section, but were overall winners in their age group.

For being named national champions, the dancers won £100 in prize money as well as getting to take home the trophy.

Claire Hathaway, principle, said: “As a teacher I am immensely proud of all the dancers that took part in all the heats and of course the final.

“Just to reach the finals was amazing, but to receive two awards that resulted in the dancers becoming national champions is a fantastic achievement for a small local dance school.

“Not only did the dancers perform on such a prestigious stage, but also had the opportunity to have workshops with the well know dance crew Antics.

“It was an amazing weekend which saw the dancers from Step By Step perform so professionally.”