IT IS the sweetest of roles, but when Hannah Cubitt was dreaming of becoming a ballet dancer, she probably never imagined it would one day be hers.

“I play a cupcake who comes to life,” she laughs.

“I’m a sweet treat which starts to dance around the stage and all the young children in the audience love it.”

Hannah, who trained at Glasgow’s Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, is performing in Scottish Ballet’s Wee Hansel and Gretel, a little version of a big ballet especially for young people.

Audiences join the daring duo as they venture into the woods on an adventure. Along the way, they meet a beguiling witch and her mysterious raven, and find an enchanted gingerbread house filled with the aforementioned dancing treats and toys which come to life.

“It’s a really lovely show and a fun role to perform,” says Hannah, who will be joining the main company in September after graduating from the RCS.

It is a dream come true for Hannah, who was inspired to take up dancing by her big sister.

“Every week I went with my parents to collect her from her ballet classes and I would sit at the studio doors watching the ‘big girls’ in awe thinking ‘I want to be like them when I’m older’,” she explains.

“I would then go home and put on a show with my sister in our living room for our parents to watch.

“Ever since then, I’ve not stopped dancing.”

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Hannah grew up in Fife, but when she was 14, successfully auditioned for the Senior Associate Programme at Scottish Ballet in Glasgow.

After two years, she applied to the RCS and was offered a place n the three year BA Modern Ballet course.

“I didn’t really know whether I wanted to audition in 2016 or wait another year and have more school qualifications first,” she says.

“I decided to just give it a try and take it as an experience if anything.

“The auditions where really quite relaxed, just like a normal day-to-day class. In the final audition we did have a physiotherapy session and also an ‘interview’ - which was more of a chilled chat just to get to know you and your personality a little bit more - and then a short jazz class.

“Overall, personally I found it a really positive experience."

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Hannah adds: “In my graduate year at RCS, I was offered the amazing opportunity to tour with Scottish Ballet for the winter season of Cinderella and at the end of the tour, I was offered a contract with the company - something I still can’t quite believe has happened – all my dreams come true.”

Dancing in Wee Hansel and Gretel has been a different experience for Hannah.

“Because it is based on a story, having to get the appropriate characterisation is something new,” she explains.

“We have a narrator who opens the show and explains what’s happening so that the children understand the plot line – that’s new for me too, as I’ve never danced alongside a narrator before.”

She smiles: “But all the young children love the dancing sweet treats, because we look like the stereotypical ballet dancer, all pink tutus and pointe shoes.”

Christopher Hampson, artistic director of Scottish Ballet, said: “This ballet is close to my heart, so I am delighted to share this specially adapted show with young children across Scotland.

“It is full of dancing and storytelling, plucky characters and a happy ending – perfect for experiencing the magic of live performance and the perfect introduction to ballet for wee ones.”

Wee Hansel and Gretel is aimed at children aged from three to eight and their families. It is based on the full-length ballet choreographed by Hampson in 2013, with a colourful set and costumes designed by Gary Harris, and music by Engelbert Humperdinck, recorded live by the Scottish Ballet Orchestra.

Wee Hansel and Gretel is at the Theatre Royal on July 13 and 14. It will then tour Scotland, taking in Greenock’s Beacon Arts Centre on September 27 and 28.