A TEENAGE dancer will head Stateside in the spring after qualifying for her second consecutive Irish Dancing World Championships.

Aoife O'Sullivan, from Witney, placed ninth in the Southern England Regional World Qualifiers to book her place at the competition in Greensboro, North Carolina, in April.

The 13-year-old, who attends The Henry Box School, has been dancing for just five years, but emulated her achievement of reaching the 2018 global championships in March.

Aoife's success caps a year where she came sixth at the European Championships in Spain and competed at the Great British Championships and the British Nationals.

She said: "My goal this year was to qualify for worlds again and I worked really hard to achieve it.

"I am really looking forward to going to America next year and compete against the best dancers in the world."

Ian Boyd, her teacher at the Masonic Lodge in Church Green, Witney, added: "Aoife had to compete against the very best dancers in the Southern England Region to achieve this goal. It is very tough.

"All of her teachers are extremely proud of the journey she has been on and are very excited for Aoife's dancing future."

Qualifying for the 2018 championships was impressive alone, after she broke both arms and a leg in a rock-climbing activity in Gloucestershire with The Henry Box School in June 2017.

But just five months later the teenager reached the Irish Dancing global finals in Glasgow.

Aoife dances for the Brooks Academy, travelling hundreds of miles each week to attend classes in Witney, Swindon and London, while she competes every other weekend.

Her hectic schedule means she often does her homework and eats dinner in the car, and sometimes misses out on seeing friends.

Her family will be fundraising over the next few months to afford the travel costs to America.

Contact Ian Boyd on 07979 045133 about Witney classes.