Thousands of little girls competed to join this class. An aspirant ballerina must have dancing talent and good health.

The young dancers are trained in two-year, four-year or six-year courses.

The six-year course recruits children at the age of 12. In addition to the dance training, they follow a full academic schedule.

Teacher Thanh Huong said that dancers have to practice very hard but their income is very low compared to other arts, their careers are relatively short, and they have to follow a strict regime to stay in shape.

Ballet requires creativity in teaching and studying. The biggest difficulty is lack of reference materials, says Miss Huong. The quality of trainees has decreased, too.

This school has trained many famous dancers, including Cao Chi Thanh (who won four international awards) and Nguyen Ngoc Anh, an outstanding dancer in the UK.

Just a handful of students in each class will be able to earn a living as dancers.