A group of talented young dancers from Ipswich have been selected to take part in a national youth dance festival.

Boys United, an all-male dance company, will perform their successful dance piece at U.Dance 2018, organised by One Dance UK, which takes place in July at Jerwood Dancehouse in Ipswich.

The boys join an impressive line-up of 12 dance groups, selected from more than 290 entrants across the country through a series of regional heats.

Claire Somerville, One Dance UK’s head of children and young people, said: “We were overwhelmed this year with hundreds of applications from youth dance groups from across the country.

“The standard was exceptionally high and each group can consider themselves winners, having come as far as the regional platform.”

Boys United’s piece is entitled Brotherhood and group leader and choreographer Shaun Dillon works with the company every week to focus on contemporary technique as well as working creatively to develop performance skills.

Andrew Hurst, chief executive of One Dance UK said: “The U.Dance national youth dance festival is an important event on the national dance calendar.

“From the regional platforms to the festival itself, U.Dance engages with more than 2,000 young dancers, encouraging them in the pursuit of excellence in dance and embarking on careers in dance, highlighting one of One Dance UK’s key aspirations – to raise the profile of dance teaching and practice in all its diverse forms.”