A school dance group performed for the first time at the world’s biggest dance festival.

After a round of successful auditions, 15 pupils from Bede’s school's Legat Dance Academy took to the main stage at the opening of Move It at London’s Excel Centre.

The pupils, aged 14 to 18, travelled from the school's site in Upper Dicker, near Hailsham, to entertain a packed audience with a group dance called Red, inspired by the fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood.

Six ballet dancers perform en pointe while being circled by contemporary jazz dancers, who are "watchers" to the musical backdrop of Somebody’s Watching Me.

Bede's students outside the Excel Centre in London (Image: Bede's)

Sherrie Pennington, director of dance at Bede’s, said: “We wanted to showcase how many different dance genres we teach here at Bede’s.

“It gave the audience a bigger perspective of what we do and how we have grown in recent years.”

Sherrie choreographed the dance with colleague Emma Manes.

Bede’s, which set up the Legat Dance Academy in the early 1970s, was named last year as one of the best schools in the country for dance by the Talk Education website.

Move It is billed as the biggest dance event in the world and brings together thousands of dancers over three days covering all genres from street dance, to ballet, hip hop to contemporary jazz.

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The dancers have a chance to meet professionals and also representatives from dance schools and colleges across the UK as well as taking part in classes.

One Legat students said: “It was this massive gathering of dancers. It had a real festival feel with thousands of people there.”

Bede's pupils preparing for their performance (Image: Bede's)

Another said: “We didn’t have a chance to practise on the stage before the show, we just had to get up there and do it. It was amazing – there was a sea of people watching and filming us. We had such a great time.”

Thirty other members of Bede’s Legat Dance Academy were also able to visit Move It on the second day. “It was fantastic for pupils to have a chance to see what is on offer out there in the world of dance,” said Sherrie.