South Shields girl Jaycee is a dancing queen at just five

Jaycee Rose Tighe, of Wenlock Road, Simonside, South Shields, has only been dancing a year, but she has already won an impressive haul of silverware.

The five-year-old also made the final of the prestigious national Disco Kid competition, dancing her way to fourth place.

The contest featured the best in the art of freestyle dance, with youngsters chosen to compete through a range of qualifiying rounds.

She also became the under-six world champion in June, beating 56 other dancers from across the globe.

Her mum, Tina Pennock, said: “I don’t even have the words to say just how proud I am of her. It has come from nowhere.

“It was like the penny dropped, and she started to take dancing a bit more seriously, and she has just flown.”

She said: “Her first-ever big competition was the world one, and she won her section, which was amazing.

“She has a lot of support from her two sisters, but I can’t thank her teacher, Kim Thompson, and Debra Flood, of Buzz dancewear, for sponsoring her, enough.”

Jaycee is currently training to compete in the Diva Dance competition in Bridlington, East Yorkshire, later this year.

Dance teacher Kim, who runs her school from Chuter Ede Community Centre in South Shields, said: “Jaycee was only three years old when she first came to me.

“She used to just dip in and out of classes when she came with her sister, then from the age of four, something just changed, and she got really into it. She started working really hard at it.

“After she won her first competition, that was it. She was winning trophies everywhere she went.”

She added: “The Disco Kid contest is such a hard competition, but we put her in it for the experience, and she qualified in Manchester to take part in the finals, where she was placed fourth.

“It really was unbelievable and a huge achievement.

“Jaycee is a natural dancer, but there are some aspects like her back flexibility where she has to work hard at and she does.

“Jaycee really is a fantastic little dancer with a huge future ahead of her. She is already known up and down the country and has achieved so much in such a short space of time.”

For information on classes, contact Kim at Chuter Ede Community Centre, in Galsworthy Road, on 536 0515.