Peel-based Gena’s Dance Academy has celebrated what it’s calling a fantastic six months.

The pictured dancers have competed in Disneyland, Paris and Coventry, bringing home many trophies.

Emma Duggan, Rosie Baxter, Lily McKinnon, Holly Bradley (seniors) and Lily Burt, Aeryn Breed, Francesca Eve, Daisy Divers (juniors) competed in IFDPA Disneyland Paris Dance Competition in October in the open jazz dance category where the seniors placed third and the juniors placed second.

The girls were competing against hundreds of other dancers who had travelled from around the world.

Head dance teacher Gena Walker said: ’It was a complete and utter shock when their names were called out.

’We just weren’t expecting to bring home trophies and such success at our first international dance competition. We promised the girls that if they placed we would enter them into a UK competition, we decided on "Starz UK", Coventry.’

The dancers made their way to Coventry with teacher and choreographer, Lucy Matthews, in February where they were successful again in the Jazz Dance category. Seniors placed third, while the Juniors won their category in first place and also received second place for the highest score across all Junior dance categories at that specific competition.

They have now been invited back to compete in the finals in London in November.

The dancers’ hard work was rewarded again in March when they competed in their first Blackpool Cheer Dance Competition with Cheerdance UK and brought home 17 trophies. All girls are trained by GDA teacher Tara Black.

The cheer dancers were Lily Mckinnon, Emma Duggan, Rosie Baxter, Lyla Schofield, Francesca Eve, Mair Taylor, Alicia Schofield, Nicole Delooze, Georgina Eve and Amy Fallows.

Gena’s Dance Academy has been running for more than 12 years and teaches 250 dancers in styles including ballet, modern, tap, jazz, contemporary, street and cheer dance.

Most recently, girls from the academy were placed in first and second positions in all dance categories they entered at the Manx Music and Dance Festival - or the Guild as it’s known -at the Villa Marina last month.