A young ballet dancer is living her dream after landing a part in a professional production.

Sophie Thomson, 13, will be performing with the English Youth Ballet at the Charter Theatre in Preston next month in their production of Giselle.

The Accrington Academy pupil will be playing a wood nymph in the ballet, said she has been dancing for 10 years.

She said: “I started dancing when I was about three years old because I saw a lot of people on TV and I thought that their dancing looked amazing and I wanted to have a go.

“I think that dancing with English Youth Ballet will help improve my dance technique so that I can hopefully do it again when I am older and hopefully have a bigger part.

“It will be interesting to see how the cast is developed during the rehearsals.

“When I am older I would like to be a musical theatre dancer on Broadway.”

More than 200 young people auditioned in November for the production.

Sophie, who lives at the Grange in Oswaldtwistle with mum Penny and dad Andrew, is a member of the Zoe Taylor Dance Academy in Blackburn and the Centre for Advanced Training (CAT) at the Lowry Theatre in Manchester.

Her mum Penny said they are incredibly proud of Sophie.

She said: “She’s doing so well with her dancing, she absolutely loves it.

“She got on to CAT at the Lowry when she started high school and she trains there four times a week so it’s a big commitment, juggling school and driving over to Manchester four times a week.”

Sophie’s mum said her passion for dancing really took off when she joined Zoe Taylor Dance Academy at the age of five.

“She auditioned for the EYB performance in Manchester a while back and she didn’t get it so I think she was really shocked that she was successful this time.

“The age group she auditioned in was up to age 18 so she’s done really well.

“She’s been in rehearsals for the last couple of weeks at Walton-Le-Dale High School.”

Giselle will be performed at the Charter Theatre in Preston on Friday March 4 at 7.30pm and Saturday March 5 at 2.30pm and 7.30pm.

For more information or to book tickets call 01772 804444 or visit www.prestonguildhall.com