THE skills of budding ballet dancers will be on show in Christchurch today.

The Sleeping Beauty from Scratch show at the Regent Centre has been put together in just one week by teacher Tina Marsh and the students from her summer workshop, based at the studio there this week.

Tina cast the roles on the very first day and has relished nurturing the talents of the eight to 21-year-olds who have enjoyed learning from her.

She said: “It’s been going really well and they’ve been putting in maximum effort so it will look really good.

“Doing this with the different ages makes it really interesting and some of the choreography is from the original ballet.”

“Some of the dancers are on vocational courses and come back to workshops like this in the summer.

“A lot of them do it for pure enjoyment too.

“Many of them come back year after year and it’s really nice to see them develop.”

The group of 20 ballet dancers are split into juniors and seniors so that Tina, a professional dancer for 10 years, can match her teaching to their ability.

The production is on at the Regent Centre at 2.30pm and Tina said visitors will enjoy seeing Sleeping Beauty as a ballet.

Tina said: “The show is a really good introduction to a classical ballet and there’s parts explaining the story, so it’s for everybody.”

The week-long course gives newer ballet dancers and those who are learning ballet professionally the chance to develop, and to perform on stage during their summer break.

Sara Keegan has been on a break from ballet during university and has relished the return.

Sara, 21, from Bransgore, said: “This is my first year so I did not know what to expect.

“Tina is a professional so it is a really high standard but it’s also really good fun.

“I’ve also remembered I’ve got muscles where I did not think I had them and the girls here are really good.”

The Professional Experience workshops include dancers of an Intermediate, advanced and higher level of ability.

Dancers learn a selection of well-known repertoire; contemporary technique classes; essential practical skills sessions and learn about hair and make up for the stage.

Sophie Farrell is training to become a professional dancer in London and plays one of the principle roles as the evil fairy.

The 20-year-old, who lives in Talbot Woods, visits Tina’s summer courses every year.

She said: “It gives me the chance to continue dancing in the summer.

“It’s good fun to put on the show and play a character role on stage.”