Forty three Island dancers will have the chance to learn from some of the best dance teachers in the world this summer when Bermuda hosts the first ever International Summer Dance Institute.

And 15 of the dancers were this week given scholarships from the Ministry of Community Affairs and Sports.

All of the students took part in auditions in New York, Toronto and on the Island.

Along with the 43 Bermudians, there are 16 students from Canada and the United States who will take part in the summer classes.

The three-week programme will run from August 15 to September 2 at the dance studio of the Bermuda High School and classes will be taught by faculty members from the world-renowned American Ballet Theatre (ABT).

The three-week programme will include technique, pointe and partnering classes as well as Pilates, modern and hip-hop. There will also be lessons in the history of dance and nutrition.

Bermuda National Dance Foundation chairman Donald Kramer said he was delighted and overwhelmed with the response the foundation received from the dance community, both on Island and abroad, to the establishment of the summer dance institute in Bermuda.

?Almost 100 students in New York and Toronto went through a rigorous audition process, which was conducted by teachers from ABT,? he said.

?As a result, we have a group of committed and dedicated youngsters who are willing to work very hard to improve their talent in dance.?

Minister of Community Affairs and Sport Dale Butler presented scholarships to the dancers who were chosen by their teachers.

He said: ?There are many ways to develop our youth and the performing arts is one of the most demanding and rigorous of disciplines.?

The Ministry had presented each school with two scholarships worth $1,350 each and some schools divided the scholarships so that more than students could attend.

The winners were In Motion School of Dance students Alanah Bacon, Jaesharrie Johnson, Courtney Lopes, Karissa Roberts and Anna? Robinson, Russian School of Dance student Anna Lea Clifford, Jackson School of the Performing Arts dancers Gabriele Dunkley, Nicole Hassell, Cordelia Philip, Alexis Richens and Melissa Spurling and Somerset School of Dancing students Natalie Nielsen, Laura Norman, Safiya Nurse and Rachel Ray.

In addition to the Ministry?s scholarship, the National Dance Foundation has awarded a full scholarship to Tyler Barker, a promising Bermudian male dancer currently studying at the New World School of the Arts in Miami, Florida. Mr. Barker will return to the Island to attend the institute.

ABT faculty members who will be teaching during the summer programme are: Franco DeVita, principal, the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School of Ballet at ABT, Clinton Luckett, artistic associate of ABT?s Studio Company, Kate Lydon, former member of ABT?s corps de ballet and a teacher with ABT?s Education and Outreach programmes, Brian Reeder, formerly of ABT?s corps de ballet, choreographer, and a teacher with ABT?s Education and Outreach, Danny Tidwell, a current member of ABT?s corps de ballet.

Sophie Cannonier, who is a former dancer with the Dance Theatre of Harlem and who now operates The Integrative Health Cooperative, in Warwick, was asked to teach Pilates classes during the programme.