Senior pupils at the Cairngorm School of Dance in Aviemore are defying adversity to bring a Christmas show to younger students.
The school was closed through lockdown and only able to open again in September, with restricted class sizes and physical distancing in place.
A much-anticipated show at Eden Court in July had to be cancelled, depriving the pupils of their chance to shine.
Undaunted, 10 ballet students aged 13-15, have devised their own 20-minute show, ‘A Christmas Tale’.
To comply with distancing they have split into two casts of five, each cast performing the same show to an audience of 10 at the school’s Aviemore studio in Dalfaber.
As one cast performs in the big studio, the other will limber up ready to come on afterwards to a fresh audience.
No less than 80 of the school’s younger pupils are attending, meaning that each cast will perform the show four times in one day, set for Sunday December 13.
The ballet show is the story of Christmas from tree decorating, the big countdown, sleep, presents and an ice-skating finale.
The girls designed the set to create a Victorian style living room, with a big Christmas tree from a local donor, and a fireplace and stove.
The school’s founder and dance teacher Heather Cooney said girls were days away from their Grade 5 exams when lockdown started.
She said: “They’ve had a tough year and it feels like they had everything taken away from them.
“They’ve done really well putting this show together for the younger ones.”
