Students at Dance East will be joining forced with an internationally renowned dance school for a performance in the town in May.

Ipswich Star: Dance East on Ipswich WaterfrontDance East on Ipswich Waterfront (Image: Archant)

The Encore Dance Company, which features dance students on the brink of graduating from the sixth form at prestigious Tring Park School for the Performing Arts in Hertfordshire, will be performing with Dance East students for a blend of classical ballet, contemporary, tap and jazz dance, including the rarely seen Carousel pas de deux choreographed by the legendary Sir Kenneth MacMillan.

The performance, on Monday, May 2, is the seventh show in Encore’s eight-date tour of England and Wales. It will also be running dance workshops at Dance House on May 1.

Rachel Tarkenter from Dance East, said: “The performance is a great opportunity for young people to have a professional theatre experience of performing at the Dance House, which is great.

“We have a great relationship with Tring Park [School]. Members of our groups have gone onto perform there, so it’s nice for them to have the opportunity to come back and perform in the professional theatre.”

Tring Park School for the Performing Arts his world famous for its dance credentials, having produced a number of professional dance stars and choreographers, including pop star Ella Henderson, actress Lily James, from Disney’s Cinderella, Downton Abbey and War and Peace, and Jessica Brown-Findlay, also from Downton Abbey.

Its students regularly perform in West End ballet productions with the English National Ballet at the London Coliseum.

Tickets for the show, which begins at 7.30pm, are available online at www.danceeast.co.uk/the-dancehouse.