A TAP dancer from Salisbury is celebrating her success at an international competition.

Rosie Howell, who goes to South Wilts School and takes tap, ballet, modern and jazz lessons at Salisbury Dance Studios, competed in the Dance World Cup in Brighton last week.

About 18,000 dancers applied to take part in the competition, which saw entries from 39 different countries. Rosie, who won two bronze medals at the IDO World Tap Dance Championships earlier this year, competed in three categories. In the Junior Tap Solo she came fourth out of 18, only beaten by three of her teammates from the England tap dancing team, Tap Attack.

She competed with six of her Tap Attack teammates in two group categories, Open Group Tap Dance and Junior Group Tap Dance. In the open group they came fifth and in the junior group they came first with a score of 94.67, which saw them entered into a special gala on the final day, showcasing the best dancers in the competition.

They were then awarded Best Tap Group – All Ages of the competition.

Rosie said: “It was amazing. When our group went up to collect our award and they played the national anthem - that was special. It was really interesting to see all the other styles; there was some amazing ballet and jazz dancers.”

Members of the England tap team have to audition each year to try and retain their place. Rosie has just auditioned and is hoping to hear this week if she’s still in the team, then it will be straight on to rehearsals for the next World Championships in December.