Talented Walsall College dance students performed at the Birmingham Hippodrome theatre ahead of award-winning director Matthew Bourne’s production of Sleeping Beauty. Level three learners Ann-Marie Wood, aged 18, Chelsea Cowley, 17, Emily Hartshorne, 18, and Faye Bolan, 16, impressed the audience with a brand new five-minute dance inspired by the main show, called The Beauties Awake. They performed ahead of Tony Award winning director Mr Bourne’s staging of Sleeping Beauty. Chelsea said: “Being involved in the project has been an eye-opener into the professional world of dance, and it’s just made be more determined to make it in the industry myself.” In the build-up to the big night, the students attended regular rehearsals and worked with a professional choreographer and two members of Mr Bourne’s New Adventures cast. Performing arts lecturer Julie Wright said: “This was a fantastic opportunity for the students to build up their experience of performing to a live audience and working in a professional environment.” Main pic, from left: Walsall College dancers Ann-Marie Wood, Chelsea Cowley, Emily Hartshorne and Faye Bolan (front) during rehearsals at the Birmingham Hippodrome theatre