DANCERS walked away with two trophies from the Hip Hop UK Street Dance competition at Blackpool’s iconic Tower Ballroom.
Five of the seven-strong team who make up ‘Astonish’ attend Haslingden High School and were second in their class. In addition, duo Caitlin Flatley, 14, and Tilly Fletcher, 15, also came second in their competition.
They are members of The A Team – Dance with Abbie Lindsay, who practise at Baxenden Village Club.
Caitlin said: “It is exciting to compete but it is also very stressful because there is a lot of organisation that goes into a duo routine and we have to choreograph the whole routine ourselves.
“I train from Mondays to Wednesdays and then we also have rehearsals on a Saturday when we have a competition coming up.”
Caitlin also competed in individual classes, including freestyle solo where the dancers do not know what music they will have to dance to until they are on the stage and it starts – they then have to improvise.
The next competition is in early spring and Caitlin said the written feedback the team and duo received will help them improve their routines.
She will also be starring in a showcase on the same day she comes back from her Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award expedition.
She added: “Abbie is the best teacher I have ever had. She is not shouty but she offers good, constructive criticism which helps you to improve.”
The Astonish members are Caitlin, Tilly, Issy Anderson, Jasmine Jordan and Imogen Goedhart-Dowd, all from Haslingden High School and Brodie Perkins and Lauren Brown.