A TALENTED youngster is getting ready to perform in front of 1,500 people alongside some of Britain’s best ballet dancers.

Alex Paterson will swap the classroom at Dunbar Grammar School for performances in Birmingham and London.

The 14-year-old successfully auditioned for top dance company National Youth Ballet (NYB) and will perform in its 2018 season, which starts next month.

Working with professional dancers, choreographers and teachers, she will leave her home in Dunbar to perform with the company.

Her mum Niki said her daughter was “very excited” ahead of the shows, including a gala performance at international dance house Sadler’s Wells, London, on September 2.

She said: “I think she enjoys the music, the whole thing. She likes things to be quite disciplined and likes the discipline of ballet.

“She has just always been a dancer. Whenever music is on, she is up dancing and she has been like that from a young age.”

Third-year pupil Alex began learning to dance aged just three.

Since then, the teenager, who aims to become a ballerina, has continued to develop her dancing and now studies ballet with the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland’s Junior Conservatoire and trains with Scottish Ballet’s Associate Programme.

For the 2018 season, the NYB presents Bright Young Things, a mixed programme of ballets choreographed by some of the UK’s most eminent professionals and rising talents, performed by a company of dancers aged between nine and 18.

At the heart of NYB’s season is a two-week residential programme that sees the youngsters come together with a team of professional dancers, choreographers and teachers to emulate the experience of being in a professional dance company.

More than 80 alumni are currently performing on the West End stage or with professional ballet companies across the world, with many having worked for leading companies including Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures.

Niki said: “We are really, really proud of her.

“I still struggle to go and watch her because it just brings a tear to my eye.

“I know how much it means to her and a lot of hard work goes into getting her to places like Glasgow or down south for auditions.

“When she is successful, it is quite emotional seeing her.”