BEDTIME stories made up by a father for his young children have been brought to life by dancers.

Mirabel and the Wand is a new fairytale ballet which will be performed at the Swaledale Festival on June 6.

It was written by David Dixon, of Healaugh, near Reeth, based on the stories he made up for his daughters, Jasmine, six, and Holly, four. The girls play flowers in the ballet.

Mr Dixon was invited to tell his fairytales to nursery pupils from Reeth and Gunnerside schools, in Swaledale, where Janet Seymour, who runs the School of Theatre Dance in Reeth, heard about them.

Mirabel and the Wand tells the story of a troll who lives under Scabba Wath Bridge, near Healaugh, and who tries his hand at magic with a stolen wand.

"When Justin Doyle, the festival's artistic director, asked if I had anything for this year's festival, I thought of David's fairytale," said Ms Seymour, who choreographed the piece.

Mr Dixon, a teacher for a training company in Leeds, said: "There are some lovely locations around Healaugh and I told the girls stories about the fairies and creatures who might live there. They involve all sorts of mischievous pranks and there is always a moral behind them."

Mr Dixon was asked to visit the nursery school in Reeth to talk to children who were looking at trolls as a project. Ms Seymour heard about the tales and thought they would make a good subject for a ballet.

"It is a fairly simple story," said Mr Dixon. "I hadn't written any of them down, so we wrote them for Janet. She is very imaginative and she has got the gist of it beautifully."

The performance features young dancers from Swaledale and Arkengarthdale and recorded music collated by John Hall, of Low Row.

Gill Wilkinson, headteacher at Reeth School, allowed the school hall to be used free for rehearsals.

Tickets for the performance at Reeth Memorial Hall, at 5pm, are £6 and have almost sold out. They are available from the box office on 01748-880019.