A GROUP of talented students from an Edgbaston school are taking to the stage with Birmingham Royal Ballet – in Japan.

Six young people at the Elmhurst School for Dance were hand-picked to join the company in performances of The Sleeping Beauty during a three-week tour of the Far Eastern nation.

Student Shaun McLaughlin, aged 19, is loving the experience.

“It is really nice to be here,” he says. “And I am sure it will make a difference when I am going for auditions. It means we have professional experience and it shows we can perform on stage and are reliable.”

Fellow student 19-year-old Lauren McCarron had never been to Japan before so was delighted to be asked along – and learn a little about the country.

“When I am on stage and have the chance to stop and see the audiences, they are so huge it is overwhelming,” she says.

For 18-year-old Benjamin Roomes, who has also performed with BRB in Cyrano in the UK and Swan Lake in Virginia, the Japanese audiences are fascinating.

“When we are not on stage there are some moments when we are standing on the side and we can see the audience then. They are very quiet throughout the performance – that seems to be their general etiquette.”