The pupils from the Yorkshire Coast School of Ballet took to the stage at the YMCA Theatre to perform their dances to judges and an audience.

During the summer the performers, aged six to 16, created their dances, chose music and costumes and got together with their friends in village halls, gardens and living rooms to practice.

Principal Helen Held said: “We had 40 entries of an extremely high standard. It was wonderful watching the pupils perform their own dances with such joy and artistry.

“It was a very difficult job for the judges to choose winners as there were many creative and complex choreographies.”

The youngest pupils had their own matinee performance and demonstrated excerpts of classwork.

Ms Held said: “The afternoon of dance is a great opportunity for our little ones to get accustomed to being on stage and gives parents and friends a chance to watch their progression through the early years of ballet.

“The performance culminates with the senior pupils performing exam solos and dancing en pointe, which provides great inspiration to our little ones.”

The performances also featured ballets choreographed by Ms Held, patron Susan Richards, assistant teacher and junior company coach Victoria Stephenson and boys coach Daniel Chouler.

Earlier this year, Claire Linden, of the Association of Russian Style Ballet and Theatre Arts, spent three days in Scarborough examining the school’s dancers.

Miss Linden sent her congratulations for the “extremely high standard the school has attained”.

The certificates and school awards were presented on stage.

Ms Held added: “The school awards date back to 1982 and many of the former recipients have gone onto vocational schools or are now watching their own children perform with us.

“I’m delighted to be continuing the tradition, started by Susan Richards, of nurturing and rewarding a new generation of dancers.”