Hippy, hippy, shake for street dance joy

Dinnington-based hip hop group the SD-Crew represented the county at the World Street Dance Championships in Blackpool.

And after competing with teams from USA, France, Germany, Holland, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium and Spain, they came away with max street cred.

They managed seven top-six places, with youngsters strutting their stuff in the under-eights, under-12s, under-14s and under-16s, as well as the 'crew' battle.

The United Dance Organisation championships featured world famous dancers - including Sisco, who recently performed with Madonna, and Patrick Allan, who has worked with Michael Jackson.

The street dance extravaganza took place at Blackpool's Winter Gardens.

SD-Crew's teacher Nic Prentice said: "We had a fantastic time and came away very pleased with what we achieved. I think everyone was impressed by our dancers. It was a great weekend."

The SD-Crew teams came second in the 'crew battle', Ruby Parker came third in the under-eights solo, with Molly Sturgeon a close fifth, Demi Spooner came in third in the under-12s solo with Lamour White an impressive fourth in the under-16 solo.

Holly Ward also picked up accolades by dancing herself into sixth place in the over-16 solo section and Katy Cooper and Rosie Leivers came third in the under-14s duo section.

The championships kicked-off with a big party, followed by the competition and all-day dance workshops. The competition finals were followed by a show from two of the world's top break dancers, B Boy Cico and B Boy Mouse.

The judging panel was headed by London-based top commercial dancer Glen Ball, who has performed on stage with Kylie, Take That, Lionel Richie and Mariah Carey.

Organiser Simon Dibley said: "Street dance is a high energy spectacle incorporating many styles of dance from hip hop to break dancing with a lot of gymnastic moves. It is exciting to both watch and perform.

"The UDO now has over 3,500 members, comprising dancers from all over the UK, Europe, the USA, Korea, Japan and South Africa, and we are very proud of how far street dance has come in the UK."