A Whitworth Community High School student has landed a place at the prestigious Shockout Arts Limited dance institution in Manchester.

Jasmine Somerwill, 15, from Britannia, Bacup, was selected from hundreds of hopefuls and will be studying a BTEC in Musical Theatre, involving singing, dancing and acting.

Jasmine said: "I have been dancing since I was three and for the last two years I have been having lessons at Dansworks Dance Academy in Bacup.

"When I started at Dansworks I was a gold star four in street dance and good at disco but not particularly good at ballet.

"The Principal Karen Roe put me in for my Grade 5 ballet and I passed with distinction."

Once she has completed her BTEC, Jasmine hopes to go on to the university at Shockout to complete her degree.

She said: "My course will begin in September and I will be doing different dance styles, tap, ballet, jazz, street and contemporary.

"My plan is to dance around the world and I would love to perform on cruise ships.

"Dancing makes me feel happy and it changes everyone around you.

"When my great-grandma was terminally ill she was in hospital and I went to see her and I was dancing for her. The lady in the bed next to her had stopped eating and didn’t want to carry on, but after she saw me dance she told staff she wanted to eat again.

"Dancing can affect people so much.

"I want to thank everyone at Dansworks for helping me achieve my goal."