NUMEROUS dancers have enjoyed success after being born and bred in south Essex, but these photographs from the Echo archive show how much has changed through the decades.
Amazing dancers have waltzed, jigged, body popped and even been breakdancing their hearts out over the years.
Our images, from the 1980s through to the current day, show just how popular dancing is in this part of the world.
The JT Dancers troupe enjoyed success at the 1991 Youth Dance Awards, while members of the Performers Dancing College appeared in a charity show at the London Palladium.
Lean on me - Performers Dancing College members are put through their paces in 1991
As times have changed, more south Essex dancers have also made an impact on television, with Rhian Bremmer, Curtis Butler, Lewis Platt and Chloe Lynch starring in Britain’s Got Talent.
Join us on a trip down memory lane by joining our ‘We grew up in Essex’ Facebook group. If you have old photos and stories to share with our readers, simply complete our online form.
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Scroll down to see more eye-catching images of south Essex dancers.
Soaring - a dancer performs a daring jump under the Big Top in Basildon in 1992
Señoritas - girls from south Essex get active by flamenco dancing in Laindon in 1992
Getting close - participants at a tea dance in Basildon look to the camera in 1990
Talented - 26 dancers from the Southend area appeared in a professional production of Coppelia with the English Youth Ballet in 2015
Getting jiggy with it - a host of young dancers from the Loretta Webb School of Irish Dance performing in Basildon in 1990
Breaking it down - a group of energetic youngsters breakdancing in Basildon in 1987
Lift - Bob Barber and Isabel Instance in action
On television - Rhian Bremmer, Curtis Butler, Lewis Platt and Chloe Lynch were part of Britain’s Got Talent group Entity Allstars in 2015
All smiles - teenage girls from the JT Dancers troupe prepare to celebrate after triumphing at the 1991 Youth Dance Awards
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