MUM'S lucky point shoes made a birthday audition dream come true for a young ballerina.

Julie Lyon, 44, gave the slippers she wore during her dance debut as Snow White at The Regent Theatre in 1980, to daughter Imogen on the eve of her first big audition.

Pretty Imogen, of Butely Lanes, Prestbury carried them in her bag for luck as she danced for the selection panel of the English Youth Ballet with her friends from the Handforth and Prestbury School of Dance.

And the shoes worked their birthday magic winning her a place in the ballet's production of Sleeping Beauty this weekend.

Imogen only became old enough to dance with the youth ballet on the day of her audition, when she turned eight.

Now she will dance on the same stage as her mum, at The Regent Theatre in Stoke.

Julie, a corporate sales director, said: "She celebrated her eighth birthday the night before and when we went to the audition she asked if she could put the ballet shoes in her bag for luck and they seemed to have worked."

And mum-of-two Julie reveals there is another budding ballerina waiting in the wings, Imogen's little sister Sophia, aged seven, also a pupil at the dancing school run by Michelle Cheetham.

Julie said: "She is very proud of her older sister, they are very close both of them. I am absolutely delighted that they both love dancing, it is not something you can choose for them, I am just happy that they love it as much as I do - they might have decided to do judo or horse riding."

Imogen is one of four young dancers from the town to be selected for the English Youth Ballet.

She will be performing alongside her friends from the the school of dance in Handforth and Prestbury, 17-year-old Claire Murphy, and Tara Mollan, 14, both pupils at Wilmslow High School.

And nine year old Megan Perry, a pupil at Lady Barn House School who trains at The Vale School of Dance and Drama will also take to the stage at the Stoke theatre.

These youngsters were chosen from a very competitive audition earlier in the year when nearly 300 hopefuls turned up but English Youth Ballet were only able to take 100.

Bridget Hearne, of English Youth Ballet said: "It will be a very exciting experience for these youngsters as their dances will be choreographed around their talents and rehearsed by professional artists in the company who take the lead roles in the performances.

"It is a full scale professional production with stunning sets and 276 costumes. English Youth Ballet won a prestigious award in October 2006 from the Stage in association with the TMA awards for their work within the regions of the UK.

"Rehearsals commenced in Stoke in earnest on July 14 and continued every weekend for six hours a day - very intensive - but enjoyable too as they make new friends and experience what life could be like if they ever joined a ballet company."

  • English Youth Ballet will perform three shows of The Sleeping Beauty at the Regent Theatre Stoke on Trent on August 3 and 4. Box Office 0870 0606649.