YOUNGSTERS put on their dancing shoes and amazed audiences at the Marlborough Area Dance Festival this weekend.

The pupils from schools across Marlborough put on two performances on Saturday with proud relatives packing into The Theatre on the Hill at St John’s to watch 208 performers aged between four and 18.

The theme for the eighth annual festival was science to tie in with Science Week and the schools chose songs or costumes that linked with the subject.

Performances included dances to Star Girl by Chilton Foliat,who dressed up as the solar system,and Electricity by St Mary’s featuring a lightning bolts.

Sally Bere, community director at St John’s, said: “It was absolutely brilliant, there was a great atmosphere.

“We’ve had so much positive feedback from staff, parents and all the children who were involved.

“The children absolutely loved it. I was in the wings helping them before they went on stage and they were all saying ‘we want to come back next year’.”

The show involved pupils from St John’s and 12 primary schools who only had Friday afternoon to run through all of the dances and learn the finale.

The event was compared by St John’s sixth-form students Helena France and Sophie Anstee de Mas.

Each school had a chance to wow the audience with Eastern Royal kicking off festivities followed by, St Michaels, St Katharine’s, St John’s Great Bedwyn, St Peter’s, Preshute, Shalbourne, Kennet Valley, Ogbourne St George and St Andrew, Chilton Foliat and St Mary’s.

This year the finale was a route to Up Town Funk by Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars.

Mrs Bere said: “There was a big cheer all round when they found out that was what they were dancing to for the finale.

“They all joined in. We had three quarters of the children on stage and the rest on the floor at the front because it was such a big group.

“Our year 10 students led it and for the evening performance we had the audience joining in.”