Schoolgirl Annie Edwards may be only one metre tall but thanks to her dance moves she is a giant of the stage.

The 11-year-old from Peacehaven beat 150 other children to the role of Fairy G in a modern parody of the Sondheim musical Into The Woods in London's West End.

Her achievement is all the more amazing because she is about half the size of other children her age.

Annie, of Southdown Avenue, Peacehaven, is one of only seven people in the country to be born with a rare growth disorder called cartilage hair hypoplasia.

Her ten-year-old sister Brydi also has the disorder which means the two girls grow at a slower rate than other children.

But Annie learned at an early age that size was not everything. She took up dancing at the age of seven and has won many competitions.

On Saturday she made her West End début. Tracy Edwards, her mother, said: "I'm just so proud of her. Most of the cast is adult and Annie is one of only three children involved in the show.

"On her first night when she went on stage, she brought the house down. The audience went mad - she just stole the show."

Annie landed the role after taking part in an audition last September arranged by her dance school dance club Studio 54, in Peacehaven.

She thought nothing more of it until she got a call from the choreographer earlier this year.

She has been rehearsing at weekends and after school for the show called Into The Hoods, which began on Saturday.

It officially opened at The Novello in London on March 25.

The show is loosely based on the Sondheim musical Into The Woods and is an urban fairy tale featuring street dancing.

The main character, Spinderella, is a young girl who dreams of being a DJ and is helped and hindered on her path by a host of characters.

Annie, who does tap, ballet, line dancing and street dancing, plays her fairy godmother, a hip-hop diva.

Annie said it was the biggest role she had landed yet. She said: "This is the biggest thing I've ever done. I was amazed I got through.

"Now I've been picked by a top choreographer it's given me lots more confidence.

"I hope this will be the start of something very big."