THE first full-blown ballet to come to Wyre Forest may have special attractions for GCSE English students, but for one schoolgirl it is like stepping into a dream.

In an innovative production, Ballet Gwent company will be offering an unusual interpretation of Shakespeare's As You Like It at Bewdley Festival next month.

Young ballerina Georgina Cox, seven, has yet to study Shakespeare but she has already enjoyed working with ballet dancers at a workshop organised for the festival last year.

Now Georgina of Bromley Farm, Upper Arley, is looking forward to seeing a full-length ballet on her doorstep.

A ballet student at Bridgnorth, Georgina joined a workshop with the Birmingham Royal Ballet as part of last year's Bewdley Festival.

She was especially excited to work alongside ballerina Lisa Conway who appears in the video of The Nutcracker, a ballet she has also seen performed at the Birmingham Hippodrome.

Bewdley festival spokesman Carole Swingler said the internationally known Gwent Ballet had been booked "by popular request".

For many it would be their first chance to see a live, full length ballet without having to travel to Birmingham.

The performance at Kidderminster's Harry Cheshire High School theatre on Sunday, October 8, is expected to appeal not only to dance enthusiasts but also to youngsters studying Shakespeare.

Mrs Swingler said: "This is a really interesting and imaginative idea and a new classical ballet for the millennium. It is lovely to see how Shakespeare has inspired another art form."

There are still tickets left for the evening ballet and also for a few other events in the nine-day programme from October 6 - 14. More tickets have been made available for the Julia Scott Victorian walled garden spot on October 11 by moving the venue from The George Hotel to the Baptist Church.

Tickets for Steeleye Span and Opera Returns have now sold out but there are are still seats for Ophaboom Theatre Comany's The Hunchback of Notre Dame on Monday October 9 and for a comedy evening with Don Maclean on October 14.

For details, contact Carole Swingler on 01299 403355 or Bewdley Tourist Information Centre and Bewdley Books in Load Street.