A STRETFORD dance group, the Aim Sky High Company (ASH), has been crowned the winners of the Printworks Street Dancer competition, after triumphing in the live finals.

ASH is a social enterprise providing dance, drama and singing tuition to children and young people.

The group, comprised of dancers aged ten to sixteen, impressed the judges and live audience away with their flawless and imaginative choreography – winning a prize of £1,000, the Street Dancer trophy and the chance to perform at the Manchester Christmas Lights switch-on in December.

Christina Taylor, founder and choreographer of the Ash Company, said: “At ASH we purposely keep the fees as low as possible to make performing arts accessible to everyone, which is why I’m so proud to see the kids win Street Dancer as it proves you can achieve anything you want to no matter your background.

"After rehearsing five hours a day for the past two weeks in the run up to the competition they well and truly deserve it.

“The £1,000 prize money is going to be re-invested back into the dance group for training so that we can continue to help more young people to benefit from affordable dance classes.”

One of the judges, Lizzie Gough - a So You Think You Can Dance finalist in 2010 - said: “We all really enjoyed getting the opportunity to watch these young people perform and having such a mixed range of contestants showed how the power of dance brings people together.

"ASH were inspiring winners who worked well together as a team which ultimately showed in their performance.”

Fred Booth, the Printworks centre director, added: “It has been an exciting competition this year attracting exceptionally talented dancers from across the North West which made picking just one winner very difficult.

“The Aim Sky High are worthy winners and I hope the prize will help the group to continue their dream and get them the exposure they deserve.”

* Contact us sam.editorial@messengergrp.co.uk or write to Messenger Newspapers, Alexander House, 94 Talbot Road, Old Trafford, M16 0PG. @MessengerNews_ or facebook.com/messengernewspapers