A STREET dance school from Crosshill showed their swag after taking home 40 trophies from the UDO Scottish championships in Perth on Sunday.

It was a debut to remember for the youngsters, who train at the community enterprise centre, as they wowed the judges in impressive style.

Ashleigh Yule, co-owner of the Company School of Dance, said: "We started in November – in the middle of a pandemic! – and on Sunday we headed to our first competition as a dance school.

"We only took 44 dancers and we took home 40 trophies, taking first place in every crew category.

"They really smashed it and the results were great. We had a number of firsts and they all did so well."

She set up the school with best friend Liam McKay, who also helps kids with additional support needs at Benarty Primary School, and it's proved hugely popular in such a short space of time.

They've even got the 'King of Lite Feet', Mr YouTube from New York, crossing the pond to run workshops while top professionals from London regularly travel north to train the kids.

Ashleigh explained: "I've been dancing since I was 10 and Liam has danced since he was five, we're both 27 now and have competed for about 10 years.

"We've got about 80 kids, from classes for nursery kids and P1s all the way up to seniors, which is S6.

"We've also got some girls training professionally who teach with us as well.

"We've got four crews, at under-12, under-14, under-16 and under-18, and we're just putting together our fifth, for under-8s."

She continued: "Street dance is fun. It's not as strict as ballet or lyrical and it's a way for kids to be free and express themselves.

"It's not set in stone that you have to dance a certain way, they can do it their way and kids love that.

"And we give them incredible opportunities, they're not just stuck with me and Liam!

"We've got dancers and choreographers from London who come up and Mr YouTube, from New York, comes over to do a workshop once a month.

"We met him through dance competitions, he started his own academy in the UK and selected four dance schools to train with.

"Ours was one of them and the kids absolutely adore him, they love him to bits."

She added: "One of our kids, Cerys McDonald, was scouted by Mr YouTube and invited to go to London to dance in one of his shows.

"We headed down to London too and it was just brilliant, she did so well."

Launching a new business during the pandemic wasn't ideal and Ashleigh admitted: "I think a lot of people doubted us and asked 'Are you sure this is what you want to do?' but it was just the right time.

"The place at Brag came up and it's been crazy ever since.

"At the open day alone 50 kids turned up and I thought 'Oh my goodness'.

"The amount of support we've had, locally and from parents who want to bring their kids for us to train them, has just been amazing.

"We've only one studio just now, the next step is to get a cafe for the kids and a little dance shop.

"I hope we'll be able to open a second studio very soon, so we can run different classes at different times.

"Eventually I'd love to have lots of students and studios and be a massive dance school in Scotland."

The Company School of Dance runs Monday to Friday, 4pm to 9pm, and will be looking to enrol more kids during the October holidays.

You can contact them via their Facebook page or call Ashleigh on 07860 662451 for more information.