A teenage ballerina will be living her dream when she takes to the stage with the English Youth Ballet to perform in Swan Lake.

Ruby Prescott, 14, auditioned with more than 240 young dancers to be part of the production at the Preston Charter Theatre next month.

She will be performing as one of the swans and working alongside EYB’s international principal artists in the production.

Ruby, a Guiseley School pupil, is rehearsing at Walton-le-Dale Arts College and High School for the next three weekends before the three-show run on April 5 and 6.

Her father, Chris Prescott, said Ruby, who lives in Baildon, wanted to be a professional ballerina and had appeared in other productions.

“She loves it. That’s what she wants to do. She dances all the time,” he said.

British principal ballerina Julianne Rice Oxley said working on the production was a big opportunity for the teenager and praised her talent.

“The young dancers we are working with in Preston have great energy and attack. Working in a professional environment gives the students a unique insight into life in a ballet company.

“Ruby is so lucky, I wish there had been something like EYB when I was training. I feel very privileged to be a principal with the EYB as I get to work with some of the UK’s most talented young dancers. I find them incredibly inspiring,” she said.

Ruby is a pupil at the DM Academy in Shipley, where Girls Aloud star Kimberley Walsh learned to dance.

A spokesman for EYB said: “Swan Lake is technically and dramatically the most challenging of the classic ballets. EYB will shake up the ballet world by attempting what some may consider impossible - it will stretch its young stars to the maximum in presenting an innovative new production of Swan Lake.”