A group of Bermudians will share the stage with thousands of world's finest professional dancers and choreographers -- a first for a local dance company.

The dancers will represent Bermuda at a seven-day dance extravaganza called 2000 Feet, A Celebration of World Dance in Philadelphia.

United Dance Productions founder Suzette Harvey said 13 dancers will head off to the City of Brotherly love this afternoon to show off their fancy footwork.

"Four of those dancers will represent the company and Bermuda at 2000 Feet, A Celebration of World Dance,'' explained. Ms Harvey. "Suzanne Williams, Zalika Millett, Sophia Cannonier and myself will be performing Incidents of a Slave Girl, choreographed by Kevin Malone.'' The week-long event is an international pre-millennium celebration of dance and will feature professional performers from around the world including Ghana, China, Venezuela and Spain.

"This will be the first time a company from Bermuda will be seen alongside other well known international companies,'' noted Pat Thomas of the University of the Arts in Philadelphia -- one of the organisations behind the seven-day event. "Hopefully United Dance Productions will get some invitations and bookings out of this.'' And Ms Harvey also said that the company's participation in the event meant that they will have to face a slew of critics.

"The number of critics that will be there is unreal,'' she said. "I had an interview with a Philadelphian newspaper and they told me that there will be 65 critics watching us, so this trip could either make us or break us.

"This festival is the most important pre-millennium project for dance.'' " The most important aspect of this is that the local dancers will meet professional dancers,'' Ms Thomas pointed out. "Every other company invited to this event is sponsored by their Government. They are full-time, paid dancers who devote their entire day to dancing.'' The Bank of Bermuda, in addition to Bacardi Ltd. and the Arts Council, are funding UDP's June 23 Philadelphia performance.

"Our dream and goal is to have dancers who receive a salary, so they can train and rehearse all day, not just evenings,'' Ms Harvey added.

While the senior company is busy kicking up their heels on the world stage, the members of the junior company will be taking part in a two-week workshop connected to Philadelphia's annual Summer World of Dance festival.

"The junior company will be doing intensive training,'' Ms Harvey explained.

"They will be collaborating with dancers from the US, Japan, Cambodia and the UK. When they get there they will have two days to learn new choreography and on June 29 all of the countries will perform the dance together.

"It will be a good learning experience and great cultural exchange for them.'' Dancing in Philadelphia And Ms Harvey has also been invited to teach at the some of the dance workshops involved in the annual event.

"I will teaching hip-hop and possibly beginners modern.'' Upon returning from their Philadelphia sojourn, Ms Harvey said she will set her sights on the future which includes another upcoming American performance and expanding her growing dance company.

"In February, Kevin Malone and I are organising a joint venture in Washington D.C.,'' she explained. "We will stage a show at the Dance Place.

"And I also want to take the company to the next stage. We have outgrown our present studio space -- we now have 600 students. I have a great team and I want to set up a tiered dance administration to make things run smoother.'' The world of dance: Members of United Dance Production's senior company will represent Bermuda at the seven-day dance extravaganza, 2000 Feet, A Celebration of World Dance in Philadelphia. UDP will perform Incidents of a Slave Girl for their June 23 international debut. Pictured here are UDP founder Suzette Harvey (right) with Zalika Millett performing the number.