TWO dancing schoolgirls from south Essex are hoping to catapult themselves to stardom by winning this year’s Britain’s Got Talent.

India Cooney, 12, from Wickford, and Alice Routledge, 14, from Basildon, will be appearing on your TV screen this Saturday as part of the 23-strong street dance crew IMD Legion.

The dancers are hoping to follow in the footsteps of Britain’s Got Talent winners Diversity - an East London and Essex based dance troupe whose members include Ashley Banjo from Wickford and Perri Kiely from Thurrock.

Set up five years ago by dance teacher Omar Ansah-Awuah, Intelligent Minds Dance (IMD) are no strangers to TV appearances and last year popped up on another Simon Cowell show, performing with former member Fleur East on The X Factor.

Gemma Cooney, mum of India, AKA Lil Indz, said she drives around 30 miles a day to east London so that her daughter can dance, but that it’s was all worth it.

She said: “The dream for team IMD is to win the show and perform in front of the Queen.

“Then with the generous prize fund they want nothing more than to have a studio of their own - winning the show will secure IMD’s future.

“The dream is for the crew to invest in their own studio where they can share their passion and love of dance to the local community.

“Omar doesn’t get a penny for what he does with the crew but he’s now teaching the members to become teachers as well, it’s so inspirational.”

Both India and Alice, AKA Alz, attend Gable Hall Performing Arts School, Corringham, and want to make a career out of dancing.

The crew is made up of children, aged nine to 18, from the east end of London, Essex and Kent.

Thurrock Gazette: Alice Routledge and India Maynard-Cooney

The group have already won a host of national competitions, made the semi-finals of the Hip Hop International Championships in Las Vegas and finished twice runners up in the Sky One show Got to Dance.

Now though, they want to follow in the footsteps of Wickford boy Ashley Banjo and win Britain’s Got Talent, just as his troupe Diversity did in 2009.

Mr Ansah-Awuah said: “This is their dream, many of them started dancing after watching Diversity win Britain’s Got Talent, dance has given them a focus and the comfort of being part of a group.

“The fact the crew now have this life changing opportunity that was once just a distant dream has overwhelmed them.”

IMD Legion’s audition will be aired on ITV1 either this Saturday or next from 8pm.