DANCERS from a Bacup academy are ‘twinned’ with a Maltese dance school after a six-day trip to the island.

Six students from Dansworks Dance Academy travelled to Sliema on the island as guests of Dance College Studios.

It follows a visit to Bacup by 13 dancers from the Maltese dance school in March when the two groups performed a joint routine at Dansworks annual show at Burnley Mechanics Theatre.

The Maltese dancers also performed two of their own routines in the same show.

In Malta, the teams performed together at Dance College Studios annual show as well as performing in a large shopping precinct in St Julian’s Bay.

Dansworks dancers also performed two of their own numbers during the annual show.

The trip was such a success that the next exchange visit, in 2016, is already planned and the 12 places were fully booked within a week of being announced.

Charlie Morris, 12, from Bacup, said: “It was really good fun.

“One of the dances we performed was a ballet number, which is something they don’t do, and we were teaching some of the younger ones how to do some of the ballet steps.

“On the first day we went straight into it and performed in the dress rehearsal.

“We all got to know each other really well.

“I tried lots of different kinds of food and there were celebrations going on all the time and fireworks going off.”

Dansworks business manager Dale Connearn said: “Each town in Malta has a Saint’s feast and the celebrations were going on while we were there.

“We also took a boat trip across to the capital city, Valletta, where the dancers visited the cathedral and shopped.

“They also got soaked while dancing through the fountain in front of the Presidential Palace.”

Students from both dance schools have been using social media to keep in touch since they met in March and now regularly Facebook and Skype each other – even skyping dance lessons.

Sarah Brooks, 13, said: “It was a really good experience.

“We got to work with a new style of dancers and we met some lovely people.

“Their style of dance is more like commercial dance, the kind you see in music videos.”