BALLET dancers weighing more than 15 stone are pretty thin on the ground - but 16 of them will be in Bolton tonight.

The Big Ballet, in which each dancer weighs 220lbs, will appear at the Albert Halls in a show mixing classical and contemporary dance and music.

The company was founded in 1994 by Russian choreographer Eugene Panfilov, who set out to prove that size does not matter in dance, while also aiming to create a ballet out of performers with no previous experience.

The show, which is touring the country, deliberately challenges accepted social standards in a world where the pursuit of slenderness and beauty is prominent.

It aims to prove that grace, elegance, charisma and nimbleness are not the property of the "thin", with dancers whose bodies are sinuous, flexible and graceful, despite their ampleness.

The women train several hours a day, and principal dancer Katya Yurkowa says: "We eat normal amounts of food and the same kind of food as everyone else; our size is in our genes.

"From childhood, all of us were large and often taunted as children.

"We would like to see more sports activity and facilities for larger children, so it's the perceptions about larger peoples' abilities that need to change.

"It's very hard living your whole life being teased, to then go on and find the confidence to perform on stage in front of many people. But now we are all happy and cheerful about this."

The women, wearing custom-made tutus, promise to deliver a hilarious comedy show full of fun and astonishing choreography.

The first half of the show is a parody of classical ballets such as Swan Lake and The Nutcracker, with the second part a contemporary dance extravaganza with songs such as Tom Jones' Sex Bomb and the Pet Shop Boys' Go West.

The female dancers are joined on stage by six skinny professional male dancers and one larger male dancer.

l The Big Ballet is at the Albert Halls, Bolton, on Tuesday. Tickets, priced £15 and £17.50, are available on 01204 334400 or www.alberthalls-bolton.co.uk