SIX Huddersfield schoolgirls are to perform an ancient Indian dance in Leeds on Friday.

Adya, 11, and Divya Rana, 8, Rohini, 10, and Nisha Aggarwal, 8, Gopika Menon, 7, and Sahiba Samra, 7, all from Birkby, have been performing Bharatha Natyam , a classical temple dance, for a only month but already their hard work is paying off.

They are to perform a dance created from Sanskrit poetry they have titled Cosmic Ripples at The West Yorkshire Playhouse, Quarry Hill, Leeds.

Shanta Rao, their teacher at the Halifax-based Annapurna Dance Company, said that although it takes seven years to fully train in Bharatha Natyam the girls, who all attend The Mount School, in Binham Road, Huddersfield, are showing lots of promise.

She said: "Bharatha Natyam is a dance that is famous for its rich story telling, stylised facial expressions and intricate foot work."

Cosmic Ripples is part of a larger dance show called Dansopolis which aims to bring together many different sorts of dance and cultures.