THREE young dancers from Barrhead have pirouetted their way towards fulfilling their ultimate dream of being world-class ballerinas.

Kirsty Wallace, Niamh Stewart and Ailie Murphy are delighted to have been selected for much-coveted ballet scholarship opportunities within the British Association of Teachers of Dancing (BATD).

It follows the trio’s success in passing their most recent ballet exams under the expert tuition of Jayne Arthur, who runs a dance school in the town.

Jayne told the Barrhead News that the girls worked very hard to pass their exams.

She said: “Candidates sitting the technical grade ballet exams from grade three onwards not only need to achieve the top ‘honours’ result in their exam but also require to be recommended personally by a BATD examiner to attend the scholarship event.

“A lot of hard work and weekly commitment to classes is essential to achieve such an opportunity.”

Barrhead News:

The girls, who will travel to the October event in Doncaster, will take part with other successful hopefuls in a two-hour ballet class where the winners will receive scholarship funding towards their continued dance training.

Their teacher, who runs the Jayne Arthur Theatre School, added: “It’s fantastic that our school and pupils are being recognised nationally for our hard work.”

This latest success for the school comes as Jayne’s daughter, Robyn McKie, dances towards her own dreams of being a top ballerina.

Robyn, who was taught by Jayne from a tender age, went on to train at the Dance School of Scotland for five years and is now currently in her second year of training at The English National Ballet School in London, with hopes of becoming a professional ballerina.

A former house captain at Cross Arthurlie Primary, in Barrhead, Robyn was one of only a few Brits to successfully gain entry to the ballet school at the time – and the only female dancer from Scotland to do so.

Jayne credits her own success as a teacher to her tutelage at the former Lillian McNeill School of Dancing, in Shawlands, where she received excellent training to gain her qualifications in ballet and a Scottish Dance Teachers’ Alliance (SDTA) teaching diploma.

Read the latest news from East Renfrewshire and beyond