FOR someone who has given half her life to her world title-winning dance school, Stacey Gunn has a surprising admission.

Whisper it but, as a youngster, she "didn't like dance" at all!

Singing hopeful Stacey used to complain bitterly when, in her musical theatre days, she was given dancing parts instead.

Thankfully that's all changed now and she has been in charge of the Zodiac School of Dance, in her native Lochgelly, for 17 years.

One of their eight crews, Legacy, won a world title at the UDO World Streetdance Championships in August and last week the school was named Lochgelly Citizen of the Year.

And just after their annual show (pictured here) in Lochgelly Centre, with both performances sold out, they auditioned for the next series of ITV's Britain's Got Talent show.

It's been some journey for Stacey as she admitted: "I tell the parents this and they all laugh but I didn't like dance when I was younger!

"When I was in musical theatre you had to do all three – acting, singing and dancing.

"I always wanted to sing, that was my first preference, and I'd always moan 'Why do I keep getting these dance parts?'

"I think they saw something in me I didn't see myself!"

She credits Greg Smith, from her time with Fife Children's Theatre, for kindling her interest in dance and it started small.

Helping out at an after-school club when she was a pupil at Lochgelly High saw her take classes for Fife Council, initially with half a dozen youngsters.

Stacey started Zodiac and trained at Telford College in Edinburgh, obtaining a degree in dance.

She said: "I started it at the age of 17, in the small dance studio at Lochgelly High with half a dozen kids, and I'm 34 now so it's been going for 17 years and from strength to strength.

"We've got kids that travel from as far as Kennoway and Carnock and a guy from Crieff who comes down to take classes.

"It's got a good reputation and a lot to offer."

She now has a school with 150 kids – there's a 22-strong parent crew too – and, through Active Schools, after-school clubs throughout the Lochgelly and Cowdenbeath area.

She explained: “I’m the only dance teacher that runs a school like this in Scotland.

“The others run as dance studios where, for example, someone would just pick a jazz class and go to that for an hour a week.

“I run it in a different way, more of a personal service, as the kids are in the same class all year and they get different teachers and different styles – such as jazz, lyrical, street dance – they get a taste of everything.”

The mum-of-two added: “If they do it in a group I just think it generates better relationships and friendships.

“It focuses on mindset and really helps with confidence, which is the foundation of any performance whether you’re dancing in front of 500 people or standing up to give a speech at school.

“So it's life skills too. I could easily take much more than 150 kids but I know them all, I know their background, parents, what they like and don't like, I don't want to lose that personal side of it."

The school moved round different premises over the years – "the kids moved with us wherever we went" – before they received funding to help renovate Lochgelly Miners Institute, their new home.

They moved in two years ago to the Main Street premises and now have two studios and a cafe on the ground floor.

"I wouldn't change how I run things but I'd like to get more involved in the educational side of things and give more teaching opportunities to my pupils, especially as dance is now a recognised subject," Stacey said.

"I'd also love it if, in the next few years, we could get the funding to take over the whole building."