Ballet dancers from across Worcestershire and Warwickshire are set to perform to a special piece of music composed by a relative who survived The Holocaust. 

Ten dancers from Silver Swans, which hosts ballet classes in Redditch, Evesham, Droitwich, Alcester, Henley-in-Arden and Stratford-upon-Avon, will be taking part in the Royal Academy of Dance's Silver Swans Celebration in Battersea. 

The group are one of 12 who have been selected to perform in a live show at the Aud Jebsen Studio Theatre on the second day of the event on Friday, November 1.

The dancers attend classes with Helena Jane Classes and Coaching and will be performing to a piece of music which has a special connection to one of their Silver Swans classmates.

The music, entitled Farewell to Budapest, was originally composed by Stephen de Bastion, whose daughter Julie attends Silver Swans ballet classes in Henley-in-Arden.

A pianist working in Hungary in the 1930s, his music career was cut short by the Second World War when he was sent to a concentration camp.

One of just eight survivors, he moved to Stratford-Upon-Avon after the war, where he raised his family.

His music has recently been remastered by his granddaughter, Roxanne de Bastion, and published alongside a book about his life.

Helena Mitchell, who has choreographed the ballet piece, said: "When Julie shared Roxanne’s remastered recordings with me I loved the music and the RAD Silver Swans Celebration has given us the perfect opportunity to use it in performance and tell Stephen’s story." 

The Silver Swans celebration will bring together dancers, practitioners and teachers from around the globe for a series of fun, insightful practical workshops and talks.

The second day will also see live performances celebrating all things dance along with the benefits it can bring to physical and mental well-being.